Light-Heavyweight (≤82½ kg), Men

The light-heavyweight division was one of the closest contests in the weightlifting tournament. Favorites included Swiss lifter Fritz Hünenberger, the 1921 European Champion and silver medalist in Antwerp; Jaroslav Skobla, the 1923 World Champion; and Leopold Friedrich, the defending World Champion in the middleweight. They were joined by a young Frenchman, Charles Rigoulot. Rigoulot had a small lead after four events over Hünenberger, and then increased it by 10 kg in the last event. But matters could have been different. In the one-armed clean & jerk, the Swiss lifted 112.5 kg, a new World Record. However, to the anger of the crowd, the lift was ruled invalid by the judges, and he had to be content with his best result of 107.5 - still a World Record. One of his compatriots, Dr. Albert Schärer, also set a new World record, in the press.

Rigoulot soon turned professional, and had a very successful career. He later also became a racing driver, winning the Bol d’Or in 1937. A member of the French resistance in World War II, he supposedly once escaped imprisonment by breaking the bars with his bare hands.