David Rigert

During the 1978 World Championships in Gettysburg, Rigert was seen by USA Hall of Fame Coach Bob Takano getting out of the steam room wearing only a pair of briefs. As he turned and walked away Bob noticed strange muscle formations along his erectors. He described them as lobes of muscle on top of his erectors. Bob said that he looked like a Stegosaurus.

During that same meet, Dr. John Garhammer saw Rigert walking down the hallway in the Physical Education building without a shirt. John watched as the students stopped in their tracks and stared in amazement as he walked down the hall.
David Rigert (b. 1947) was one of the leading athletes in a legendary Soviet team that dominated the world weightlifting in the 1970's. Rigert was famous for his impressive physical strength and nearly perfect technique. Rigert's outstanding results and phenomenal performance made him a definite role model for many junior weightlifters of that generation.
Rigert got involved in Olympic weightlifting during his service in the army. He was 19 when he began to compete on the platform. His fast road from a promising beginner to the leader of the national team was due to his natural ability and guidance of the head coach of his weightlifting club, Rudolf Plukfelder.
Despite the fact that Rigert was literally unchallenged in the world class competition and was a clear favorite in his weight class at three Olympic contests, he won the gold medal only once - in Montreal in 1976. In Munich in 1972, he set an Olympic record in the press of 187.5 kg but failed at all three of his attempts to snatch 160 kg (although he held the world record of 167.5 kg at that time). Rigert was so upset that he literally pulled his hair out and banged his head against the wall. He was finally restrained by his colleagues. In 1980, the Mexico City scenario repeated itself in Moscow. This time Rigert started to snatch at 170 kg and was eliminated because he failed at all three attempts.
Rigerts ended his career with 64 world records, and was a six-time World Champion and nine-time European Champion.
After his retirement from weightlifting competitions, David Rigert launched a successful coaching career. He was one of the founders of the Weightlifting Center in Taganrog, Russia and he is the National Coach of the Russian Team.




Bio information provided by Arthur Chidlovski