Zygmunt Antoni Smalcerz (born June 8, 1941 in Bestwinka

Bestwinka

Bestwinka is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Bestwina, within Bielsko County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It lies approximately north of Bestwina, north of Bielsko-Biała, and south of the regional capital Katowice....

, Śląskie) is a former Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 weightlifter. He became Olympic Champion in 1972 in the Flyweight

Weightlifting at the 1972 Summer Olympics

The weightlifting competition at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich consisted of nine weight classes, all for men only. Two new weight classes were introduced at these Games , marking the first changes to the Olympic program since 1952...

 class.

In 2002 he was elected member of the International Weightlifting Federation

International Weightlifting Federation

The International Weightlifting Federation , headquartered in Budapest, is the international governing body for the sport of Olympic weightlifting.The IWF was founded in 1905, and has 187 member nations. The IWF president is Dr...

 Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

A hall of fame, wall of fame, walk of fame, walk of stars or avenue of stars is a type of attraction established for any field of endeavor to honor individuals of noteworthy achievement in that field...

.

He was the head coach of the Polish weightlifting team for the run up and including the 2008 Beijing Olympics

As of 2010, he is the resident weightlifting coach at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.