Pete George

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Pete George
Pete George (left) and Fyodor Bogdanovsky and Ermanno Pignatti at the 1956 Olympics
Personal information
Full namePeter T. George
BornJune 29, 1929
Akron, Ohio, U.S.
DiedJuly 27, 2021(2021-07-27) (aged 92)
Medal record
Men's weightlifting
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1952 Helsinki -75 kg
Silver medal – second place 1948 London -75 kg
Silver medal – second place 1956 Melbourne -75 kg
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1951 Buenos Aires Weightlifting

Peter T. George

stomatology. George was the first weightlifter of Bulgarian descent to win Olympic gold, which has since been achieved by other Bulgarian Olympians.[2]

Biography

His Bulgarian parents[3][note 1][4][note 2] Trayan and Paraskeva Taleff originated from Bitola,[5] from where they immigrated to the U.S. in 1929.[6] His father was an activist of the Macedonian Patriotic Organization and both his parents were members of the Macedono-Bulgarian St. Elia the Prophet Orthodox Church (Akron, Ohio).[7]

Born in Akron, Ohio,[1] George was the first 15-year-old to clean and jerk 300 lbs[8] and was the youngest senior state champion of Ohio at 14 and 1/2. His brother Jim is also weightlifter. Pete won a gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.[9] George also received silver medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London,[10] and at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.[11] He also won five World Championships outside of the Olympics in 1947, 1951, 1953, 1954, and 1955. George placed second at the World Championships in 1949 and 1950, making a total of ten medals in World and Olympic competition. He also set four world records, three in the clean and jerk, and one in the total.

After retiring from athletics, he attended Kent State University, the Ohio State University, and Columbia University. George became an orthodontist and served on the faculty of the University of Hawaii. He pioneered treatments for obstructive

Macedonian American,[13] and thus in 1993 George was awarded the Macedonian Hall of Fame Award by the Macedonian Businessmen's Club in Akron, Ohio.[14]

Notes

  1. ^ The cited source describes his parents first as "Macedonian immigrants" and then as ""Bulgarian immigrants"
  2. ^ The author describes his parents and himself as "Bulgarians" stating that "Macedonian" is simply a geographic designation: My parents, however were Bulgarians born in Macedonia. I, therefore must say, my nationality is Bulgarian.

References

  1. ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Pete George". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  2. , Autoritative review.
  3. ^ Marty Gallagher, Pete George. The greatest American Olympic Weightlifting prodigy of all time. Starting Strength Weekly Report, October 11, 2012.
  4. ^ Dr. Pete George, I Macedonian? an article published in the Macedonian Tribune newspaper of the Macedonian Patriotic Organisation on September 1, 2014.
  5. ^ Ohio History Central
  6. ^ Cal, Volume 47, Coe Laboratories, 1983 p. 21.
  7. ^ Macedonian Directory: 1951, Publisher Central Committee of M.P.O. of the U.S. and Canada, p. 9.
  8. ^ Honolulu Star-Bulletin
  9. ^ "1952 Summer Olympics - Helsinki, Finland - Weightlifting" Archived 2007-08-27 at the Wayback Machine - databaseOlympics.com (Retrieved on February 22, 2008).
  10. ^ "1948 Summer Olympics - London, United Kingdom- Weightlifting" Archived 2007-08-30 at the Wayback Machine - databaseOlympics.com (Retrieved on February 22, 2008).
  11. ^ "1956 Summer Olympics - Melbourne, Australia - Weightlifting" Archived 2007-08-27 at the Wayback Machine - databaseOlympics.com (Retrieved on February 22, 2008).
  12. ^ Питър Джордж - първият българин с олимпийско злато. Blitz.bg, 28 Авг. 2008.
  13. .
  14. ^ Macedonian Businessmen's Club

External links