Peter BACZAKO

Only the second-ever Olympic weightlifting champion to come out of Hungary, Péter Baczakó won the 1980 middle-heavyweight title by finishing first in both the snatch and the clean & jerk. At that time, the Olympics doubled as the World Championships, and this performance thus also earned him three world titles, as separate medals are also awarded for these disciplines in World Championships. While this remained his only international victory, Baczakó was a regular visitor to the podium. His medal collection includes one further Olympic bronze, nine World championship medals (four overall), and 11 European Championship medals (three overall), all won between 1975 and 1982. Until 1979, he competed in the middleweight, switching to the middle-heavyweight in 1979, and to the first heavyweight in 1983, the final year of his career. In these three categories, Baczakó won a total of nine Hungarian titles before becoming a coach with his club, BKV Előre. He died of cancer at age 56, having spent the final months of his life in a wheelchair.