The USA 1940 Olympic Weightlifting Team Virginia Strength and Power HoF inductees 2020
By Strength and Power Hall of Fame
HOF Nomination 1940 Olympic Weightlifting Team
The 1940 Summer Olympics were cancelled due to World War 2. The Summer Olympics were to be held in Helsinki Finland.
The Athletes
John Terry 132LB Class.
12/20/1908-4/1/1970
1936 Olympic Team 7th
1940 Olympic Team
1938 World Championship Team 5th
1938, 39, 40 &41 Senior National Champion
1936 Seniors 2nd
1934 Seniors 2nd
1934 Jr. National Champion
World record holder snatch. 214 ¼ lbs 1938 World’s. S&H 1/1939 Pg. 20.
World record holder several times in the deadlift. His last record was 610 lbs. (S&H Magazine 9/1941 page 7).
Ralph Scull 132LB Class
1904-1951
1940 Olympic Team
1941 Seniors 4th
1940 Seniors 2nd
1939 Seniors 3rd
1938 Seniors 3rd
1941 Jr. National Champion
1937, 38, 39, 40 & 41 New Jersey State Champion
Anthony “Tony” Terlazzo 148Lb Class
7/28/1911-3/26/1966
1932, 1936 & 1940 Olympic Team
1st American to win an Olympic Medal Bronze 1932
1st American to win an Olympic Gold Medal 1936
1st American to set an official World Record in Olympic Weightlifting 209 ¾ Press
1935. (S&H 1/1936 page 14).
1st American to win a World’s Championship 1936 (The 1936 Olympics were also considered the Worlds. S&H 10/1936 pg. 20).
1st American to officially C&J double body weight
1938 1st World Championships
1937 1st World Championships
13X Senior National Champion 1932,33,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44 &45.
Set approximately 9 World Records.
1934 Seniors 2nd ( injured)
Casimir “Cass” Klosiewicz 148Lb Class
1921-3/24/1972
1940 Olympic Team
1940 Seniors 2nd
1941 Seniors 2nd
1941 Jr. Nationals 2nd***
1941&42 Senior Mid-Atlantic Champion
Delaware State Champion 1937, 38, 39, 40, 41
1939 Jr. Nationals 3rd
1948 Olympic Trials 4th
***2nd on BW
John Terlazzo 165Lb Class
8/31/1915 – 4/1/1999
1940 Olympic Team
1940 Seniors 3rd ***
1939 Seniors 3rd
1934 Jr. National Champion
1934 Seniors 4th
1935 Seniors 5th
1936 Seniors 6th
1937 Seniors 2nd
1938 Seniors 2nd
1939 Seniors 2nd
1941 Seniors 2nd
1937 8th World Championships
*** Joe Sklar from Canada finished 2nd on BW.
John Terpak 165Lb Class
7/4/1912-6/1/1993
1936, 1940, 1948 Olympic Team
1936 Olympics 5th
1948 Olympics 4th***
1937 1st World Championships
1938 3rd World Championships
1946 2nd World Championships
1947 1st World Championships
11X Senior National Champion 1936,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45&47
1935 Seniors 4th
1948 Seniors 2nd
1935 Jr. National Champion
Coach 1968 &1972 Olympic Teams and several World Championship teams.
*** In 1948 John reduced from 181 to 148 to help the US team win the team title. The weight loss greatly reduced his strength. John retired after the 48 Olympics.
John Davis 181Lb Class
1/12/1921- 7/13/1984
1940, 1948, 1952 Olympic Team
1948 Olympics 1st Heavyweight
1952 Olympics 1st Heavyweight
1938 1st World Championships Lightheavy
1946 1st World Championships
1947 1st World Championships
1948 1st World & Olympic Championships
1949 1st World Championships
1950 1st World Championships
1951 1st World Championships
1952 1st World and & Olympic Championships
1953 2nd World Championships
1951 1st Pan American Games
1938 Seniors 2nd
1955 Seniors 2nd
1956 Seniors 2nd
12X Senior National Champion 1939,40,41,42,43,46,47,48,50,51,52 & 53
1938 Jr. National Champion
Established 16 World Records and 8 unofficial
1st lifter to officially C&J 400Lbs, 1951 Seniors Los Angeles.
1st lifter to unofficially total 1,000lbs on the three Olympic lifts 2/1/1941.
Steve Gob (Gobb)(Gobrokovich) 181Lb Class
8/3/1915-8/29/2001
1940 Olympic Team
1940 Seniors 2nd
1941 Seniors 2nd
1940 Jr. National champion
Set at least one unofficial world record
Stephen Stanko Heavyweight
9/5/1917-12/31/1978
1940 Olympic Team
1938 2nd World Championships
3X Senior National Champion 1938, 1939, 1940
1941 Seniors 3rd ***
1938 Jr. National Champion
1st lifter to officially total 1,000lbs on the three Olympic lifts. 4/19/1941 Middle Atlantic Championships. Press 310 ½ Snatch 310 ½ Clean & Jerk 381 Total 1,002
Set 3 Unofficial World Records
First amateur lifter to unofficially C&J 400lbs. (York Gym 1941. S&H 1/1952 pg.10)
First American Lifter to Officially Press and Snatch 300lbs 4/19/1940. (S&H 2/1956 pg.53)
***Phlebitis affected Steve’s leg power. This was the end of his lifting career.
Louis Abele Heavyweight
1919-1973
1940 Olympic team
1941 Seniors 2nd
1940 Seniors 2nd
1939 Seniors 2nd
1938 Seniors 3rd
1939 Jr. National Champion
Set at least one unofficial world record.
Additional Information
- There were no World Championships in 1939,40,41,42,43,44 &45. (WW2)
Who knows how many World and Olympic championships these lifters might have won.
- No World Records were established from 1939-1945. Several 1940 Olympic Team members established World Records at this time but their successful attempts were unofficial.
- A world record attempt required a unanimous decision by the judges to be approved.
- The bar touching the body during the pull for all 3 lift’s was cause for “no lift”.
- The Press was a strict military press.
- Travel was by car or bus in the US and Canada. Ship for overseas trips. No freeways in those days. The York lifters who traveled to Los Angeles in 1932 would spend the night sleeping on the side of the road to and from LA.
- Many lifters trained on common exercise sets. No Olympic bars and plates.
- Information concerning some team members is scarce. Several did not return to lifting after the war. John Terlazzo (Tony’s younger brother) was badly wounded in 1943 in North Africa. 11/1949 S&H. He lost nearly all of his left calf and his left thigh was also shot up. He spent 16 months in the hospital, 10 of those in bed.
- In 1949 John Davis failed to get travel authorization from the AAU to travel to Dayton Ohio for a meet or exhibition. He was suspended by the AAU for one month causing him to miss the 1949 seniors. Apparently, a rival of the York BBC had “inquired” about this rarely followed and I suspect barely known rule. John served in the Pacific in WW2. While there he contracted malaria which affected him the rest of his life.
- John Davis and John Terry were black and this caused them problems in some parts of the county. There were times when they had to sleep in their vehicles prior to a meet and would have to bring their own food and drink. The 1940 Jr’s were moved from Atlanta to Detroit for similar reasons. Bob Hoffman withdrew the York team thus the move to Detroit.
- Steve Stanko developed phlebitis in both legs. This may have been due to a football injury in high school. (All State full back ). The disease began in 1940 and ended his career immediately after the 1941 Seniors. One week after the Seniors his legs were swollen to twice there normal size and he was bed ridden. His best friend John Grimek took Steve to the best doctors in the country but they could not make a diagnosis. The Mayo Clinic made the diagnosis of phlebitis. It was the worst case of phlebitis the Clinic had ever seen or heard of. The doctor told Steve it was a miracle he was still alive and he would never live to see his 40th birthday. Steve’s bodyweight dropped from 225-245 pounds to 168 bed ridden pounds. He recovered enough to become a bodybuilder (1stMr. Universe 1947) but could do no heavy leg work. I have never seen a more powerfully built lifter than Steve at his prime. His lifting career ended when he was 24 years old.
- Louis Abele was another powerfully built lifter. During and after the war Louis worked in his family’s construction business. Due to the growth of the company he was unable to return to the platform after the war.
- Steve Gob (Gobb) (Gobrokovich) had a very successful lifting career. He started in the early to mid-1930’s joining the Petridas athletic Club in Bayonne NJ. In 1940 Steve lifted in the New York Invitational Meet with a broken sternum. He finished 2nd as he could not take the pain after his 1st C&J. Steve tried to join the Navy when the war started but was turned down for lacking two molars. Steve then joined the Merchant Marine and was a musician aboard ship. After the war Steve turned to professional wrestling as a career. He had a successful career wrestling as Nicoli Volkoff a supposed Russian. Steve spoke fluent Russsian which was helpful when in character. Steve’s name was Steve Gobrokovich and why he took the short version Gob when lifting I’m not sure.
- Casimir Klosiewicz was from Delaware and was part of the D-day invasion force. He returned home and worked and retired from the Postal Service. After finishing 4th at the 1948 Olympic Trials Cass retired from competitive lifting but continued to coach local lifters for many years.
- John Terpak, Steve Stanko, Anthony Terlazzo, John Terlazzo, John Davis, John Terry and Ralph Scull all worked for various lengths of time for York Barbell.
SOURCES
Strength and Health (S&H) magazine 1934-1960
Legacy of Iron 5 volume set. Brooks D. Kubik (Google Brooks Kubik to view his website).
Black Iron The John Davis Story. Brooks D. Kubik.
Information on Steve Gobrokovich. E-mail dated 2/23/2020 from Brooks D. Kubik
Lift till ya die. Butch Curry’s website
Lift-up Arthur Childovski’s web site
Special Thanks to Ric Bucinell
Thank you for giving me the privilege of nominating the 1940 United States Olympic Weightlifting Team. It is an honor to nominate this group of athletes that were clearly the elite of their time nationally and internationally. I hope that we can give their achievements new life by inducting these incredible athletes into the Strength and Power Hall of Fame.
Author: By Strength and Power Hall of Fame Completed: yes Created: Mon Mar 30 18:46:58 UTC 2020 | Last Updated: Thu Dec 21 16:23:19 UTC 2023