Jaan KIKKAS

As a youth, Jaan Kikkas competed as a cyclist, not taking up weightlifting until 1921, when he was nearly 30 years-old. He made his international début at the 1922 World Championships, where he was fourth as a middleweight. In 1923 Kikkas won silver at the Baltic Championships and followed this up with the highlight of his career at the 1924 Olympic Games, where he won a bronze medal. During the Olympics, he also set his only world record, in clean & jerk. He won his only Estonian title in middleweight in 1925. Outside of sports, Kikkas owned a metal workshop in Tallinn and was killed during a bombing raid by the Russians in March 1944.