Frank Spellman
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| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Men’s Weightlifting | |||
Competitor for  United States |
|||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Gold | 1948 London | Middleweight | |
| Maccabiah Games | |||
| Gold | 1950 Israel | Middleweight | |
Frank Isaac Spellman (born September 17, 1922 in Malvern, Pennsylvania) was an American weightlifter.
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[edit] Weightlifting career
Spellman enjoyed a long and successful career as a weightlifter, winning his last championship in 1971 at the age of 49.
Drafted into the Army Air Corps in 1942, he defeated the British middleweight champion in June 1944, just days before the Normandy Invasion.
[edit] U.S. Records
In 1946, his press of 257¾ pounds (117 kg) set a U.S. Middleweight record. He bettered that mark two years later with a press of 260 pounds (117.9 kg), and upped it again in 1950 to 261¾ pounds (118.7 kg).
[edit] U.S. & North American Championships
Representing the York Barbell Team of York, Pennsylvania, Spellman won his first U.S. championship, the Middleweight Junior title, in 1942.
In 1946, and again in 1948, Spellman won the U.S. National Middleweight title.
He captured the North American Middleweight crown in 1949.
And, in 1961, at the age of 39, he won his third U.S. National Middleweight championship.
At the U.S. Nationals, in the years he did not win a gold medal, the Pennsylvanian finished 2nd in 1947, 1949, 1952 (Lightweight), 1954 (Light Heavyweight), and 3rd in 1951.
[edit] Olympics
Spellman established two Olympic records en route to a gold medal at the 1948 Olympic Games in London. His clean and jerk of 152.5 kilograms (336¼ lb) set a new Olympic Middleweight record, as did his record-setting total lift of 390 kilograms (859¾ lb).
[edit] World records
In 1954, Spellman established a new world record at the National (U.S.) Squat Championships, with a squat lift of 510 pounds (230 kg) at a personal weight of 170 pounds (77 kg).
[edit] World Championships
Spellman placed 3rd at the 1946 World Championships in Paris, and 2nd in the World event the following year in Philadelphia.
[edit] Maccabiah Games
In 1950, Spellman took the Middleweight gold medal at the World Maccabiah Games in Israel.
[edit] Halls of Fame
Spellman has been elected to the United States Weightlifting Hall of Fame.
He has beein inducted into the Helms (Amateur Athletic Federation) Hall of Fame.
He was elected into the Porterville Quarterback Hall of Fame.
Spellman was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1983.[1]
[edit] Links
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