Sylvanus Blackman

Sylvanus Blackman started weightlifting in his native Barbados in 1952. After moving to London in the late 1950s, he joined the King’s Cross club, run by Hymie Binder who coached both Blackman and fellow Olympian Ben Helfgott. A much-respected coach, Binder went on to become chairman of the British Weightlifting Association for almost 20 years. Blackman, who was originally a railway guard, and later a London postman, won the British light-heavyweight title for the first time in 1960 when he dethroned the six-times champion Phil Caira. Blackman retained his title In 1961 and won it a third time in 1963.

Having won a silver medal representing Barbados at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Blackman then went to the 1960 Roma Olympics as a member of the Great Britain squad. He won a second silver at the 1962 Commonwealths in Kingston, Jamaica, this time representing England. Blackman went to the 1963 European Championships in Stockholm, but had to fund his own fare for the trip to Sweden. He appeared in his second Olympics at Tokyo, 1964 and the following year finished fifth in the World Championships in Tehran. After ten years performing on the international stage, he was selected for his third and final Olympics in 1968. Throughout his long career, Blackman broke many British and Empire records, but never managed to set a world record.