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cultures had a strong association between good looks and
good souls. They believed that ugliness was a manifestation
of an inner evil.
The versatility of extra weight was also harnessed for military
training. The Roman legionary would practise using a wooden
sword which was twice the weight of a standard-issue gladus.
That way, once formally equipped, he would find using the
less cumbersome weapon easier.
Such an organic and obvious sport did not have roots in any
one particular culture, so the way weight was used around
Europe was very different. Once the Roman Empire gave
way to fractured feudal states, weightlifting became quite
regionalized. Some societies would focus their talents on
throwing their stones, giving us what today has become shot
put. The Highland games, with its focus on throwing large
objects, is a descendant of this throwing culture. In other
parts of Europe, lifting and moving stones became popular.
The connection between lifting
weights and martial skills is logical,
and it is therefore natural that
lifting weight would become a part
of the transition to manhood. Again
in Scotland, there was a concept
known as the Manhood Stone,
where a boy would have to lift one
stone –said to be around 100kg-
onto another stone in order to
become a man.
Naturally, the Vikings were big into
lifting weight. A highly competitive
and martial people with plenty of
downtime, they would frequently
find inventive ways to lift objects and brag about it later.
One of the most famous lifters was Ormur Storolfsson, who
carried a 600kg log on his back for three steps. This record
was recently crushed by Game of Thrones star Hafthór
Björnsson: the subject of another Touchline article in this
edition.
Weight lifting was popular in Tudor England in the 16th
century. The warrior classes had been using metal rods or
bars for resistance training since the Medieval period, but
the Tudors decided more weight was required. They took to
adding smallish church bells to the ends of the bars. Perhaps
annoyed by the sound of clanging when they lifted, they
had the clappers removed: rendering the bells “dumb”. Even
though the bells have been replaced by metal disks, the
name “dumbbell” has stuck.
The mid to late 18th century saw the rise of the carnival
strong man. Often moving around the country with other live
performers, these men were the first professional weight
lifters. They were undeniably strong, but they naturally
injected a little artifice into their performances. Props
such as undermined chains and dumbbells that could have
mercury squirted into them were commonplace. And because
no one is much interested in seeing the Second Strongest
Man in the World, every carnival poser had to come up with
inventive ways to differentiate himself from other strong
men.
This led to each one perfecting a certain lift. By the late 19th
century, there were more weird and wonderful lifts than ever
before.
Which brings us to the foundations of the modern Olympics.
Weight-lifting was to be held in the very first Games in
1896, given its classical roots. But with such a proliferation
of lifting styles, the governing body decided to keep in
simple. There was a one-handed lift and a two-handed lift.
There were no weight classifications, so every competitor,
regardless of size, was in the same
competition. The very first weight-lifting
Olympians were Launceston Elliott
of Great Britain and Viggo Jensen of
Denmark.
Weight lifting was dropped for the 1900,
1908 and 1912 games, but came back
into fashion in 1920. It has been an
Olympic sport ever since.
Over the first 30 years of the 20th
century, the standardisation of the sport
took place. With the vast array of lifts,
it became difficult to determine who
would be the strongest man. Many of
the European nations, Germany aside,
argued for lifts that required balance and technique rather
than strength, a point that seems moot when considering
that weightlifting by definition should be about the weight,
rather than the style. In fact, in the early championships, the
winner was decided on a points system rather than on how
many kilograms were pressed.
Eventually, the three main moves of weightlifting emerged
triumphant in chalk-coated majesty. These were the clean
and jerk, the snatch, and the clean and press. The clean and
press was sent packing in the 70s, leaving us with just two
moves in the modern form.
Incredibly, it was not until the Sydney Games in 2000 that
women were allowed to compete. Now, they have seven
weight classes.
The sport of weightlifting has always been with us in some
form: lifting large and heavy objects will never go out of
fashion.
IN SCOTLAND, THERE WAS
A CONCEPT KNOWN AS
THE MANHOOD STONE ,
WHERE A BOY WOULD
HAVE TO L I FT ONE STONE
– SA ID TO BE AROUND
100KG - ONTO ANOTHER
STONE IN ORDER TO
BECOME A MAN
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TOUCHLINE
ISSUE 20 | MARCH 2015