( July 2020) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. This section needs additional citations for verification. German wrestler Fritz Konietzko came to Tallinn in 1897, and Hackenschmidt fared better. Hackenschmidt took up the challenge and was beaten. The turning point in his life came in 1896 when Georg Lurich, Hackenschmidt's compatriot Greco-Roman wrestler and strongman, toured through the area with a small company, challenging any and all comers. He joined the city's Athletic and Cycling Club, becoming an ardent cyclist and winning prizes, but also developed a keen interest in wrestling and weight lifting. Graduating from school in 1895, he entered the Lausmann factory, a large engineering factory in the city of Tallinn (then known as Reval), as a blacksmith's apprentice. He set several records in weight lifting and was considered both the strongest and the best-developed man in the world. In a wrestler's bridge, he could pull a 335-pound barbell from the floor to his chest and press it overhead, bridging on his neck. His feats of strength astounded his teachers, as he could lift a small horse off the ground and lift 276 pounds overhead one handed. He excelled in gorodki, cycling, gymnastics, swimming, running, jumping and weightlifting. įrom his earliest years, Hackenschmidt devoted himself to physical development, particularly at the Secondary Science School ( Realschule of Dorpat, as Tartu was then known), where he took advantage of the gymnasium. His paternal grandfather, Christian Philipp Hackenschmidt, a Prussian dyer, accepted Russian citizenship with his wife in 1845. He later said that neither of his parents were particularly robust in stature or had any unusual physical characteristics, though his maternal grandfather was said to have been a huge and powerful man. He had a younger brother, Bruno, and sister Alice. Georg Hackenschmidt was born in Dorpat, Governorate of Livonia, on 1 August 1878, where he lived with his parents, Baltic German Georg Friedrich Heinrich Hackenschmidt (born 1847 ), and Ida Louise Johansson, who was of Estonian and Estonian Swede descent. He was known for his impressive strength, fitness and flexibility and, later in life, wrote many books on physical culture, training and philosophy.Įarly life Hackenschmidt, ca. He is believed to be the creator of the professional wrestling version of the bear hug as well as the person who popularised the hack squat, a deadlift with arms behind the body, Hackenschmidt is also attributed as the creator of the bench press. Hackenschmidt launched his professional career in Reval (Tallinn), Estonia (then part of Russian Empire), at the time when contests were largely legitimate, and lived most of his life in London, England, where he gained the nickname of "The Russian Lion". Georg Karl Julius Hackenschmidt (1 August 1878 – 19 February 1968) was an early 20th-century Estonian strongman, professional wrestler, author, and sports philosopher who is recognized as professional wrestling's first world heavyweight champion.
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