Ken Patera - Weightlifting Career

Weightlifting Career

Before becoming a professional wrestler, Patera was a highly decorated Olympic weightlifter. He won several medals at the 1971 Pan American Games (including gold in the weightlifting total), and finished second in the 1971 World Weightlifting Championships just behind the weightlifting legend Vasily Alexeev. On national soil, Patera won 4 consecutive U.S. Weightlifting Championships in the super heavyweight class from 1969 to 1972. He was the first American to clean and jerk over 500 lbs (227 kg), which he accomplished at the 1972 Senior Nationals in Detroit. He is also the only American to clean and press 500 lbs (227 kg), and was the last American super heavyweight for years to excel at weightlifting on an international level. At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, Patera was expected to be a serious competitor to the legendary Vasily Alexeev, but he failed to total and was not among the medal recipients. Vasily Alexeev even stated to the media that Patera was even stronger than him, illustrated by a 550 pound overhead push press (off the racks) that Patera had allegedly done in practice. Nevertheless when it came to competing, Alexeev was always the winner. After the clean and press (a lift in which Patera was disproportionately talented) was eliminated from competition, Patera retired from weightlifting.