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Tamio “Tommy” Kono is considered one of the best Olympic weightlifters off all time. The Japanese-American rose from humble beginnings, defeated genetic deficiencies, developed mental courage and conquered a hectic schedule to become – pound-for-pound – the best weightlifter ever. The marvel of power in a small package set 26 world records in four weight classes, a feat never matched by any other weightlifter. During his peak, the champion believed focusing on breaking records was a sure way to avoid going stagnant. After retiring, he started coaching Olympic weightlifting, as a legendary inspiration for his athletes.

Humble beginnings, genetic deficiencies

Kono was born June 27, 1930, in Sacramento, Calif. His parents were Japanese immigrants who recently moved from North Platte, Neb., where his three older brothers were born. The family was struggling to survive an unprecedented economic downturn at the time of Kono’s birth. His father managed to save enough money to move his family back to Japan; however, the travel plans became impossible as the Great Depression emerged. Kono stayed with his parents while his brothers moved east to find work.

“I used to wish with all my might for good health,” said Kono, recalling a childhood troubled by frequent asthma attacks. The hopeful child’s health eventually improved after moving to a Japanese relocation center in northern California, where around 120,000 Japanese-Americans were sent from March to July 1942. Life was unpleasant in the community but the drier climate helped clear his airway. Ready to make the most of his newfound energy, the feeble 74-pound Kono sent a penny postcard inquiring about the Charles Atlas bodybuilding course. The 12-year-old boy didn’t have the $36 enrollment fee for the popular muscle-building program but his interest in weightlifting peaked nonetheless.

Mental courage

“[The weights] looked like train wheels to me,” said Kono, recalling the moment he was first introduced to an Olympic weight set in 1944. Scrambled together with numerous other youth within the Japanese community, Kono admired Emerick Ishikawa’s muscle-popping poses and effortless hand stands. The Olympic contender’s iron plates caught much attention too. Soon after, encouraged youth raised enough money to purchase sports equipment for block 27, where Kono found a York “Ten-in-One” exercise kit. His first maximum effort lifts were 55 pounds three times and 65 pounds once. He quickly learned that dedication led to impressive results in strength and flexibility.

Kono didn’t need complicated or expensive equipment – just a basic set of free weights. His early weight training programs consisted of lifting light weights three or four times a week, around 60 minutes per session, deep in a secluded basement. He always thought isolation helped him overcome personal limitations by teaching him to concentrate.

Kono matured to a slender 5-foot-6 young man who continually competed in local weightlifting contests. Eventually, he began training at Ed Yarrick’s weightlifting gym in Oakland, Calif., one of the best facilities on the west coast. Training partners at Yarrick’s gym included Dan Uhalde, Arthur Jones and Roy Hilligen. Chet Teegarden, Amateur Athletic Union weightlifting commissioner took notice of 18-year-old Kono during a contest in Sacramento, December 1948.

“[Kono] didn’t have much style but he pressed 190 pounds,” said Teegarden during an interview published in Pacific Citizen, August 1952. “Later he did knee bends with 300 pounds. That same day he went up to 360 and did a half knee bend. That’s something for an inexperienced 150-pounder.”

“Anyone can learn the sport,” said Kono in Pacific Citizen, March 1950. “It may not sound like a great deal of fun to an outsider but it is like mental development. You get your pleasure out of the results. As you grow stronger, you work harder at it.”

Hectic schedules

“I was in the Army between 1951 and 1953,” said Kono. “The North Koreans were shooting off all the U.S. cooks so they had to replace the cooks and they took me off the line and were ready to send me over. But when I reported in to get shipped out, they said there was a change of orders for me. It said, ‘Enlisted man is a candidate for Olympics Team.’ They asked me where I’d like to be stationed, and it was then I started training for the Olympics. I’ve always thought weightlifting saved my life.”

Kono, full of enthusiasm, continued his Pacific Coast dominance. In December 1951, he won the 148-pound division during a Pacific Coast competition held in Oakland, Calif. In January 1952, he set an unofficial U.S. record during a YMCA tournament held in San Jose, Calif. During this period his training consisted of intense 75-minute workouts, three times a week. He also discovered the value of great leg strength and forced himself to do lots of heavy squats. As a result, Kono earned a Gold Medal during the 1952 Olympic Games, weighing only 149 pounds. Despite an attack of food poisoning the night before competition, Kono had won a gold medal and set a world record in the snatch.

American weightlifter Tommy Kono (centre), who won a gold medal as a lightweight at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, with silver medalist Yevgeni Lopatin of the U.S.S.R.(left) and bronze medalist Vern Barberis of Australia.

In March 1953, Kono was handed discharge papers from the Army. He continued weightlifting three to four times a week; sessions averaged between 60 and 90 minutes. To combat boredom, he changed his routine every three weeks. In June 1953, Kono set an unofficial world press record during a meet in Indianapolis, Ind. Two months later in Stockholm, Sweden, he placed first in the 165-pound division and set a clean-and-jerk record. He later earned another Gold Medal at the 1956 Olympic Games.

Kono was an important member of the U.S. Olympic weightlifting team. He had the uncanny ability to change weight, up or down, without losing strength. This allowed him to compete in the classification where the team needed help. Bouncing between 147 and 178 pounds, Kono added weight by eating six or seven meals a day and lost weight eating only three. A master of his physique, he was also a bodybuilding champion in between winning world class Olympic weightlifting competitions. He won a Mr. World physique title in 1954 and Mr. Universe titles in 1955, 1957, and 1961 – in between winning the Pan American Games in 1955, 1959 and 1963.

Kono’s schedule always remained hectic. For example: in October 1955, he competed in the World Championships in Munich, Germany, and then went on a State Department trip through Asia, with stops in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, India and Burma. Upon returning to Hawaii in late December 1955, he started attending (and winning) tournaments every month. But all the training paid off when Kono won a gold medal in the 1956 Olympics, where he set a world record in the clean and jerk.

Kono’s big lifts at light bodyweights continued to astonish weightlifters across the United States. In June 1958, Kono attended the U.S. Nationals in Los Angeles, Calif., and took first place in the 165-pound division – lifting 10 pounds more than Jim George, the winner at 181 pounds! The following month Kono was in York, Pa., to participate in the U.S. Nationals once again. No world records were set but Kono earned the title of “best lifter.” At only 165 pounds, his winning lift was five pounds heavier than 181-pound champion Jim George. A month later, Kono was at the Pan American Games in Chicago, Ill., where he won the 165-pound division with a lift that was twelve pounds heavier than George’s first place win at 181 pounds.

In October 1958, Kono won his eighth consecutive world title, a record that represented the pinnacle of his competitive career. After effortlessly earning a place on the 1960 U.S. Olympic team, he was defeated for the first time in eight years in Rome, taking silver instead of gold. Kono went to Moscow in March 1962, but failed to place after missing all of his snatch attempts. He won at the U.S. Nationals later that year, pushed by Lewis Rieke. Kono continued to have problems in Budapest during the World Championships where he finished second – the highest finish of any U.S. athlete, but it was not first. In 1963, Kono competed for the AAU James E. Sullivan award for the last time. Awarded to the outstanding US amateur athlete of the year, it was Kono’s seventh consecutive selection and fourth straight year he placed second in the final poll.

Coach Kono

Kono became a successful weightlifting coach after retiring from competition. He trained the Mexican national teams from 1966 to 1969 and the West German national teams from 1969 to 1972. In 1976, Kono coached the United States’ Olympic weightlifting team. He also coached the first three U.S. women’s weightlifting teams. He led the women to a second-place finish in the first world championship in 1987 and two more runner-up finishes in subsequent world championships. Kono said he liked coaching women because he found they listened better than men.

Kono gained worldwide reputation as an official in the International Weightlifting Federation. He became one of weightlifting’s most prolific writers, photographers and equipment designers. In 1993, he was elected to the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame. Olympic officials have grumbled about the problems with drug abuse in weightlifting in recent years, even suggesting the future of weightlifting as an Olympic event might be in peril. Kono continues to get involved when talks lead to cutting weightlifting from the Olympics, even though he is no longer officially involved with the International Weightlifting Federation.

Kono feels there is an American way for weightlifting that is becoming a lost art, a skill that cannot be recovered by European-trained coaches. He believes the U.S. teams decline in weightlifting competitions is because American weightlifters have forgotten that training is “not about working hard but working smart.”

“A training program should include both long-range and short-range goals,” said Kono in a 1990 interview. “But be realistic about your goals and give yourself ample time to reach these targets.” To this day, Kono believes everyone should start slow and work their way up.

“Successful weightlifting is not in the body,” Kono told a Time magazine reporter, June 1960. “It’s in the mind. You have to strengthen your mind to shut out everything – the man with the camera, the laugh or cough in the audience. You can lift as much as you believe you can. Your body can do what you will it to do.”

“I just stress the positive aspects of life,” said Kono on training mental courage. “It’s always worked for me.” Kono’s mental toughness transformed the scrawny asthmatic kid into America’s most unbeatable weightlifter.

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