Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Andrzej Drzewiecki |
Born | London, England | 9 November 1947
Occupation(s) | Strongman Olympic Weightlifting, Teacher |
Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) |
Competition record | ||
---|---|---|
Weightlifting | ||
Representing Great Britain | ||
Olympic Games | ||
10th | 1980 Summer Olympic Games | |
Representing England | ||
Commonwealth Games | ||
1978 Commonwealth Games | ||
Strongman | ||
Representing England | ||
Britain's Strongest Man | ||
3rd | 1982 |
Andy Drzewiecki (born Andrzej Drzewiecki, 9 November 1947) [1] is a former athlete, weightlifter and strongman from England. He won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in 1978 [2] in the heavyweight class of the weightlifting. He also competed at the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow. In 1979 he competed in the first ever Britain's Strongest Man, won by Geoff Capes, and came third in that event in 1982. Prior to that he had also competed successful at a national level in various field athletic events.
As a younger sportsman, Drzewiecki was a nationally renowned field athlete. He won the AAA Midland Counties discus championship in 1968 and 1969 and in 1973 won the shot put at the same championships. [3] In the mid-seventies he shifted his focus to weightlifting and eventually won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in 1978 [2] in the heavyweight class. He also competed at the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow coming tenth. In 1979 he competed in the first ever Britain's Strongest Man, won by Geoff Capes, and came third in that event in 1982.
Drzewiecki became a teacher. He was a subject of an unfair dismissal in 2007 the scale of which was such that it was reported on nationally by the BBC and other media. Having sent and then escorted a classroom bully to the head teacher of his primary school, the pupil alleged that he had used excessive force. Drzewiecki was ordered home from St Mary's Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent immediately. A police investigation was dropped, but Drzewiecki was sacked six months later in June 2007, following a disciplinary hearing. A subsequent employment tribunal, after five day days of hearings, ruled that Drzewiecki's dismissal had been "thoroughly unfair". Drzewiecki won compensation, but later said the incident made it "extremely difficult for him to work again as a primary teacher." [4]
Geoffrey Lewis Capes is a British former shot putter, strongman and professional Highland Games competitor.
Poland competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States. 165 competitors, 126 men and 39 women, took part in 126 events in 20 sports.
Yuri Norayrovich Vardanyan was a Soviet Armenian weightlifter. Vardanyan won a gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics, becoming the world's first weightlifter to achieve a 400 kilogram total in the 82.5 kg weight category. During his career he set several world records. He trained at Lokomotiv in Leninakan, Armenia. He earned the title Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR in 1977 and was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1985. In 1994 he was elected a member of the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame.
Andrew David Jameson is an English sports commentator and former competitive swimmer. Active as an elite swimmer in the mid-to-late 1980s he represented Great Britain in two consecutive Summer Olympics, the FINA World Championships, LEN European Championships, as well as England in the Commonwealth Games. At his peak between 1986 and 1988 he won the gold medal in 100 metre butterfly at the 1986 Commonwealth Games, the 1987 European Aquatics Championships and the 1987 Summer Universiade, as well as the 100 metre freestyle gold at the same Universiade. Winning the bronze medal at the 1986 World Aquatics Championships, Jameson's career in the pool culminated in winning the bronze medal in the 1988 Summer Olympics, his second and final Olympic Games.
Britain's Strongest Man is an annual strongman event held in the United Kingdom. Competitors qualify for the final through regional heats and the winner is awarded the title of "Britain's Strongest Man". The competition is produced by TWI and serves as a qualifying event for the World's Strongest Man ("WSM") competition, also a TWI production.
Nauru competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics, that were celebrated in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. Nauru was represented by the Nauru Olympic Committee, and was the only nation out of 204 participating nations and territories that sent only a single athlete, and was one of 117 that won no medals at the Games. The sole athlete to represent the nation was Itte Detenamo, who participated in the weightlifting, and was the flag bearer in both the opening and closing ceremonies. This was the same number of athletes as at the 1996 Olympics, when Marcus Stephen represented the country in the same sport, but was a decrease from the nation's last appearance at the Games when three athletes were sent to Athens. Nauru earned a berth for the weightlifting event in the Oceania and South Pacific Olympic Weightlifting Championships in 2008 and a chance to send participants in swimming and athletics events, but chose to send only a weightlifter. Itte Detenamo competed in the Group B of heavyweight class, fifteenth and last event of the weightlifting. He did not earn a medal, but finished with a personal best.
Louis George Martin was a British middle-heavyweight weightlifter.
Zbigniew "Bishop" Dolegiewicz was a Canadian professional track and field athlete and coach who specialized in the shot put and the discus throw.
Laine Snook is a former strongman and professional Highland Games competitor. As an athlete he competed internationally but his career was cut short by injury. He went on to specialise in strength based sport and represented both England and Great Britain in various Highland Games and strength athletic events. He also became the world benchpress champion. He has gained international renown in strength sport for being one of the world's foremost exponents of grip strength.
Grant Anderson is a former weightlifter and Highland Games competitor from Scotland. He won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in 1970 in the heavyweight class of the weightlifting but was more prominent as a Highland Games competitor, in which capacity he won the inaugural World Highland Games Championships in 1980 in Los Angeles.
Seen Lee is an Australian weightlifter. She won a bronze medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and a silver at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. She represented Australia in weightlifting at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Gor Minasyan is an Armenian-born Bahraini weightlifter, and Olympic silver medalist (2016) competing in the super-heavyweight category.
George Kobaladze is a Georgian–Canadian weightlifter who has attained numerous successes at prestigious international competitions in the super-heavyweight category (+105 kg), including:
Sarah Davies is a British weightlifter, competing in the 64 kg and 69 kg categories internationally and representing England and Great Britain at international competitions. She won the silver medal in the women's 71 kg event at the 2021 World Weightlifting Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Peter May is a British male weightlifter.
Anthony Arthur is a retired British male weightlifter, competing in the 85 kg category and representing Great Britain and England at international competitions.
Andrew John Callard is a British male weightlifter.
Talha Talib is a Pakistani weightlifter from Gujranwala. He is the Pakistani national champion in the 62 kg category. He set a new record at the games in snatch as he lifted 132 kg in the third attempt with 127 kg and 130 kg in the first two attempts, respectively. He was also a gold medalist at the 2016 Commonwealth Youth Weightlifting Championships in Penang. He lifted 258 kg to clinch the gold. He is currently the top No. 1 ranked weightlifter of Pakistan.
Enzo Kofi Kuworge is a Dutch weightlifter. He became junior super heavyweight world champion at the 2021 Junior World Weightlifting Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. He represented the Netherlands at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Maximina Uepa is a weightlifter from Nauru. She won the bronze medal in the women's 76 kg event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, England. She is the current Nauruan women's record-holder in the 71kg category for overall, snatch and clean and jerk.