Bantamweight (≤56 kg), Men

This was a new class at the Olympics, and it had first been held at the World Championships in 1947, where American Joe DePietro won the title, followed by his teammate Rich Tom. DePietro was very short, with his height variously reported as anywhere from 137-147 cm (4-6 to 4-10). His arms were so short that, at full extension, the bar barely cleared his head.

DePietro took the lead early in London with a press of 105.0 kg, which gave him a 12.5 kg lead over Britain’s Abe Greenhalgh. After the snatch, DePietro led Tom and Britain’s Julian Creus by 17.5 kg, and all he needed to do was lift cleanly in the clean & jerk to clinch the gold. His lift of 112.5 in the clean & jerk was bettered by four lifters, but it was enough to give DePietro the gold medal and a world record. In the final lift, Creus outlifted Tom to garner the silver medal. DePietro came back in 1949 to place third at the World Championships, which were won by Iran’s Mahmoud Namdjou, who placed fifth in London.