Paul Edward Anderson
Encyclopedia
Paul Edward Anderson (October 17, 1932 - August 15, 1994) was a weightlifter, strongman
Strongman (strength athlete)
In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or circus performers of similar ilk who displayed feats of strength such as the bent press , supporting large amounts of...

, and powerlifter
Powerlifting
Powerlifting is a strength sport. It resembles the sport of Olympic weightlifting, as both disciplines involve lifting weights in three attempts. Powerlifting evolved from a sport known as 'odd lifts' which followed the same three attempt format but used a wide variety of events akin to Strongman...

.

Biography

Anderson was born in Toccoa, Georgia
Toccoa, Georgia
Toccoa is a city in Stephens County, Georgia, United States located approximately from Athens and approximately northeast of Atlanta. The population was 9,323 at the 2000 census...

, United States of America.

As a teenager, Anderson began his early weight training on his own within his family's backyard at Toccoa, Georgia
Toccoa, Georgia
Toccoa is a city in Stephens County, Georgia, United States located approximately from Athens and approximately northeast of Atlanta. The population was 9,323 at the 2000 census...

 in order to increase his size and strength so that he would be able to play on the Toccoa High School football team
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

, where Anderson earned a position as first-team blocking back.

Anderson later attended Furman University
Furman University
Furman University is a selective, private, coeducational, liberal arts college in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Furman is one of the oldest, and more selective private institutions in South Carolina...

 for one year on a football scholarship, before moving to Elizabethton, Tennessee
Elizabethton, Tennessee
Elizabethton is the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is also the historical site both of the first independent American government located west of both the Eastern Continental Divide and the original thirteen British American colonies.Elizabethton is also the...

 with his parents and it was there in Elizabethton where Anderson first met weightlifter Bob Peoples, who would greatly influence Anderson in squat training and introduce Anderson around weightlifting circles.

In 1955, at the height of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

, Anderson, as winner of the USA National Amateur Athletic Union
Amateur Athletic Union
The Amateur Athletic Union is one of the largest non-profit volunteer sports organizations in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs.-History:The AAU was founded in 1888 to...

 Weightlifting Championship, traveled to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

, where weightlifting was a popular sport, for an international weightlifting competition. In a newsreel of the event shown in the United States the narrator, Bud Palmer, commented as follows: "Then, up to the bar stepped a great ball of a man, Paul Anderson." And paraphrasing Palmer "The Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

ns snickered as Anderson gripped the bar which was set at 402.5 pounds, an unheard of lift. But their snickers quickly changed to awe and all out cheers as up went the bar and Anderson lifted the heaviest weight overhead of any human in history." Prior to Anderson's lift, the Russian champion, Medvedev, had matched the Olympic record of the time with a 330.5 pound press
Clean and press
The clean and press is a weight training exercise, and was part of the sport of weightlifting in the Olympics until 1972. It was removed from Olympic weightlifting due to difficulties in judging proper technique....

. Anderson then did a 402.5 pound press. During the 1955 World Championships in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 that October, Anderson also broke two other world records (for the press - 407.7 pounds - and total weight cleared - 1129.5 pounds) as he easily won the competition in his weight class to become world champion. Upon his return to the USA, he was received by then vice-president Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

, who thanked him for being such a wonderful goodwill ambassador.

In 1956 he won a gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...

 in a long, tough duel in the Melbourne, Australia Olympic Games
1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...

 as a weightlifter in the super-heavyweight class (while suffering from a 104 degree fever). Paul was tied with Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 Humberto Selvetti in the amount of weight lifted, but because Anderson weighing 137.9 kilograms, was lighter than Selvetti, who weighed 143.5 kilograms, Anderson was awarded the medal.

Anderson turned professional after the 1956 Summer Olympics at a fairly early age and many of his feats of strength, while generally credible, were not done under rigorous enough conditions to be 'official'. Nevertheless, he was at one time listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for a backlift of 6270 pounds.

Anderson could not compete in the 1960 Olympics because he had been ruled a professional for accepting money for some of his weight lifting and strength exhibitions. In the 1960 Olympics the Russian heavyweight Yury Vlasov
Yury Vlasov
Yury Petrovich Vlasov is a former Olympic heavyweight weightlifter for the Soviet Union, a writer and a politician.- Biography :...

 beat Paul Anderson's records set at the 1956 Olympics. A short time later, not to be outdone by the Russian and to verify his position as World's Strongest Man, Anderson lifted the same weight as the Russian three times in quick succession demonstrating unbelievable strength.

In 1959, Paul Anderson married Glenda Garland. The couple, devout Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

s, founded the Paul Anderson Youth Home, a home for troubled youth in Vidalia, Georgia
Vidalia, Georgia
Vidalia, is a city in Toombs and very slightly into Montgomery counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 10,491. It is the largest city in Toombs, but is not the county seat...

 in 1961, which was supported by Paul's speaking engagements and strength exhibitions. They had one child, Paula, adopted in 1966.

In the late 1970's, Anderson became a hero to a small boy going to school in the Evansville, Indiana
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the largest city in Southern Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 117,429. It is the county seat of Vanderburgh County and the regional hub for both Southwestern Indiana and the...

 area, by breaking a brick as well as stopping bank robbers.

As a child, Anderson suffered from Bright's Disease
Bright's disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. The term is no longer used, as diseases are now classified according to their more fully understood causes....

, a kidney disorder, and eventually died from kidney disease. He weighed between 350-375 lb and was only 5 in 11 in (1.8 m) tall (some sources say 5' 10" or even 5' 8").

Paul Anderson's true life testimony can be heard as a dramatization through "Unshackled!" radio ministries on program number 2521 "Unshackled!
Unshackled!
Unshackled! is a radio drama series produced by Pacific Garden Mission, in Chicago, Illinois, that first aired in 1950. It is the longest-running radio drama in history and one of very few still in production in the United States...

" has produced a comic booklet telling the story of Paul Anderson in addition to his radio dramatization.

Career bests

  • Clean and press
    Clean and press
    The clean and press is a weight training exercise, and was part of the sport of weightlifting in the Olympics until 1972. It was removed from Olympic weightlifting due to difficulties in judging proper technique....

    : 185.5 kg in 1955-10-16, on Munchen;
  • Snatch
    Snatch (weightlifting)
    The snatch is one of the two olympic weightlifting events .The essence of the event is to lift a barbell from the platform to locked arms overhead in a smooth continuous movement. The barbell is pulled as high as the lifter can manage at which point the barbell is flipped overhead...

    : 145.0 kg in 1955, on Munchen;
  • Clean and jerk
    Clean and jerk
    The clean and jerk is one of the two Olympic weightlifting events .The clean portion of the lift refers to the lifter explosively pulling the weight from the floor to a racked position across deltoids and clavicles...

    : 196.5 kg in 1955-04-26, on Cleveland;
  • Total: 512.5 kg (clean and press + snatch + clean and jerk), in 1955-10-16, on Munchen.

Other bests

  • Military press
    Military press
    The military press is a variation of the overhead press weight training exercise using very strict form.The military press targets the deltoid muscles in the shoulders as well as the triceps...

    : 435 lb (197.3 kg);
  • One arm overhead press: 300 lb (136.1 kg);
  • Squat
    Squat (exercise)
    In strength training, the squat is a compound, full body exercise that trains primarily the muscles of the thighs, hips and buttocks, quads , hamstrings, as well as strengthening the bones, ligaments and insertion of the tendons throughout the lower body...

    : 1202 lb (545.2 kg), two reps;
  • Backlift: 6270 lb (2,844 kg) (weight raised slightly off trestles);

External links

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