Middleweight (≤75 kilograms), Men

Aleksandr Kurynov of the Soviet Union was the defending gold medalist and had won the World Championships in 1961-63 and should have been a clear favorite, but he was booted from the Soviet team in 1964 because head coach Arkady Vorobyov disagreed with his training methods. In his absence the medal race in middleweight was wide-open, but the Soviet chosen, Viktor Kurentsov, had recently set a world total record. The lead after both press and snatch was taken by Japan’s Masashi Ouchi, with Kurentsov well back, and Czechoslovak Hans Zdražila in second after a snatch of 137.5 kg. He lifted 177.5 kg in the clean & jerk to equal Kurentsov’s total world record of 445.0 kg and win the gold medal. Kurentsov lifted 175.0 kg in the clean & jerk to move up to a silver medal while Ouchi won bronze. In 1968, Kurentsov would improve to the gold medal in the class, and Ouchi would also move up, winning silver.