# 1972 World Weightlifting Championships

The 1972 Men's World Weightlifting Championships were held in Munich, West Germany from August 27 to September 6, 1972. There were 188 men in action from 54 nations.
This tournament was a part of 1972 Summer Olympics but counted as World Weightlifting Championships too. Only total medals counted for Olympic Games while Snatch and Clean & Jerk medals counted for the World Weightlifting Championships.

## Medal summary

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 52 kg |||||||
| Press | Zygmunt Smalcerz Poland | 112.5 kg | Sándor Holczreiter Hungary | 112.5 kg | Lajos Szűcs Hungary | 107.5 kg |
| Snatch | Aung Gyi Burma | 105.0 kg WR | Zygmunt Smalcerz Poland | 100.0 kg | Tetsuhide Sasaki Japan | 97.5 kg |
| Clean & Jerk | Pak Dong-geun North Korea | 130.0 kg | Lajos Szűcs Hungary | 127.5 kg | Zygmunt Smalcerz Poland | 125.0 kg |
| Total | Zygmunt Smalcerz Poland | 337.5 kg | Lajos Szűcs Hungary | 330.0 kg | Sándor Holczreiter Hungary | 327.5 kg |
| 56 kg |||||||
| Press | Imre Földi Hungary | 127.5 kg | Mohammad Nassiri Iran | 127.5 kg | Henryk Trębicki Poland | 122.5 kg |
| Snatch | Koji Miki Japan | 112.5 kg | Gennady Chetin Soviet Union | 107.5 kg | Henryk Trębicki Poland | 107.5 kg |
| Clean & Jerk | Imre Földi Hungary | 142.5 kg | Mohammad Nassiri Iran | 142.5 kg | Gennady Chetin Soviet Union | 140.0 kg |
| Total | Imre Földi Hungary | 377.5 kg WR | Mohammad Nassiri Iran | 370.0 kg | Gennady Chetin Soviet Union | 367.5 kg |
| 60 kg |||||||
| Press | Ymer Pampuri Albania | 127.5 kg | Dito Shanidze Soviet Union | 127.5 kg | Norair Nurikyan Bulgaria | 127.5 kg |
| Snatch | Jan Wojnowski Poland | 120.0 kg | Yoshinobu Miyake Japan | 120.0 kg | Dito Shanidze Soviet Union | 120.0 kg |
| Clean & Jerk | Norair Nurikyan Bulgaria | 157.5 kg WR | Dito Shanidze Soviet Union | 152.5 kg | Yoshinobu Miyake Japan | 145.0 kg |
| Total | Norair Nurikyan Bulgaria | 402.5 kg | Dito Shanidze Soviet Union | 400.0 kg | János Benedek Hungary | 390.0 kg |
| 67.5 kg |||||||
| Press | Mladen Kuchev Bulgaria | 157.5 kg WR | Nasrollah Dehnavi Iran | 150.0 kg | Mukharby Kirzhinov Soviet Union | 147.5 kg |
| Snatch | Mukharby Kirzhinov Soviet Union | 135.0 kg | Waldemar Baszanowski Poland | 130.0 kg | Won Shin-hee South Korea | 130.0 kg |
| Clean & Jerk | Mukharby Kirzhinov Soviet Union | 177.5 kg WR | Mladen Kuchev Bulgaria | 167.5 kg | Zbigniew Kaczmarek Poland | 167.5 kg |
| Total | Mukharby Kirzhinov Soviet Union | 460.0 kg WR | Mladen Kuchev Bulgaria | 450.0 kg | Zbigniew Kaczmarek Poland | 437.5 kg |
| 75 kg |||||||
| Press | Vladimir Kanygin Soviet Union | 165.0 kg | Mohamed Tarabulsi Lebanon | 160.0 kg | Yordan Bikov Bulgaria | 160.0 kg |
| Snatch | Ondrej Hekel Czechoslovakia | 142.5 kg | Aimé Terme France | 142.5 kg | Mohamed Tarabulsi Lebanon | 140.0 kg |
| Clean & Jerk | Yordan Bikov Bulgaria | 185.0 kg | Gábor Szarvas Hungary | 175.0 kg | Anselmo Silvino Italy | 175.0 kg |
| Total | Yordan Bikov Bulgaria | 485.0 kg WR | Mohamed Tarabulsi Lebanon | 472.5 kg | Anselmo Silvino Italy | 470.0 kg |
| 82.5 kg |||||||
| Press | Leif Jenssen Norway | 172.5 kg | Christos Iakovou Greece | 170.0 kg | Rolf Milser West Germany | 160.0 kg |
| Snatch | Leif Jenssen Norway | 150.0 kg | Bernhard Radtke East Germany | 145.0 kg | Mike Karchut United States | 145.0 kg |
| Clean & Jerk | György Horváth Hungary | 192.5 kg | Norbert Ozimek Poland | 187.5 kg | Leif Jenssen Norway | 185.0 kg |
| Total | Leif Jenssen Norway | 507.5 kg | Norbert Ozimek Poland | 497.5 kg | György Horváth Hungary | 495.0 kg |
| 90 kg |||||||
| Press | David Rigert Soviet Union | 187.5 kg | Hans Bettembourg Sweden | 182.5 kg | Andon Nikolov Bulgaria | 180.0 kg |
| Snatch | Andon Nikolov Bulgaria | 155.0 kg | Jaakko Kailajärvi Finland | 150.0 kg | Pierre Gourrier France | 147.5 kg |
| Clean & Jerk | Rick Holbrook United States | 197.5 kg | Phil Grippaldi United States | 195.0 kg | Atanas Shopov Bulgaria | 192.5 kg |
| Total | Andon Nikolov Bulgaria | 525.0 kg | Atanas Shopov Bulgaria | 517.5 kg | Hans Bettembourg Sweden | 512.5 kg |
| 110 kg |||||||
| Press | Jaan Talts Soviet Union | 210.0 kg | Aleksandar Kraychev Bulgaria | 197.5 kg | Roberto Vezzani Italy | 192.5 kg |
| Snatch | Rainer Dörrzapf West Germany | 165.0 kg | Kauko Kangasniemi Finland | 165.0 kg | Jaan Talts Soviet Union | 165.0 kg |
| Clean & Jerk | Stefan Grützner East Germany | 207.5 kg | Helmut Losch East Germany | 205.0 kg | Jaan Talts Soviet Union | 205.0 kg |
| Total | Jaan Talts Soviet Union | 580.0 kg | Aleksandar Kraychev Bulgaria | 562.5 kg | Stefan Grützner East Germany | 555.0 kg |
| +110 kg |||||||
| Press | Vasily Alekseyev Soviet Union | 235.0 kg | Rudolf Mang West Germany | 225.0 kg | Ken Patera United States | 212.5 kg |
| Snatch | Vasily Alekseyev Soviet Union | 175.0 kg | Rudolf Mang West Germany | 170.0 kg | Kalevi Lahdenranta Finland | 165.0 kg |
| Clean & Jerk | Vasily Alekseyev Soviet Union | 230.0 kg | Gerd Bonk East Germany | 217.5 kg | Rudolf Mang West Germany | 215.0 kg |
| Total | Vasily Alekseyev Soviet Union | 640.0 kg | Rudolf Mang West Germany | 610.0 kg | Gerd Bonk East Germany | 572.5 kg |

## Medal table

Ranking by Big (Total result) medals
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Bulgaria | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| 2 | Soviet Union | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Hungary | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 4 | Poland | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | Norway | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Iran | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Lebanon | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | West Germany | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | East Germany | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | Italy | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | Sweden | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (11 entries) | Totals (11 entries) | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 |
Ranking by all medals: Big (Total result) and Small (Press, Snatch and Clean & Jerk)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Soviet Union | 11 | 4 | 6 | 21 |
| 2 | Bulgaria | 7 | 5 | 4 | 16 |
| 3 | Hungary | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 |
| 4 | Poland | 3 | 4 | 5 | 12 |
| 5 | Norway | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 | East Germany | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 6 | West Germany | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 8 | Japan | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 8 | United States | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 10 | Albania | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Burma | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Czechoslovakia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | North Korea | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Iran | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 15 | Finland | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 15 | Lebanon | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 17 | France | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 17 | Sweden | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 19 | Greece | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 20 | Italy | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 21 | South Korea | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (21 entries) | Totals (21 entries) | 36 | 36 | 36 | 108 |