Featherweight (≤60 kilograms), Men

The last two gold medals had been won by Japan’s Yoshinobu Miyake, but although he returned in 1972, he was no longer the dominant lifter in this class. In fact, his brother, Yoshiyuki Miyake, had won the World Championships in 1969 and 1971, but he did not compete at the 1972 Olympics. The lead after the press was taken on bodyweight by Albanian Ymer Pampuri, who worked as a circus clown and was completely unknown. He would place last in the snatch, which was excusable when one understands he had never performed that lift in competition prior to the 1972 Olympics. Pampuri was tied after the press with Bulgarian Norair Nurikyan and Soviet Georgian Dito Shanidze, the 1968 Olympic silver medalist. Shanidze moved ahead after the snatch with Nurikyan 2.5 kg behind, tied with Hungarian János Benedek. In the clean & jerk, Nurikyan lifted 157.5 kg for a world record, which gave him a total of 402.5 kg, to equal Shanidze’s world record and win the gold medal. Shanidze won his second consecutive silver while Benedek took bronze.