Gary
Gubner broke the World Indoor Shotput record on multiple
occasions in
1962, eventually establishing the World
indoor record of 64'113/4" (19.805 meters).
He was ranked number one in the
World Indoors in 1962 and 1963. Outdoors,
he was second in 1962 and fifth
in 1963.
Injuries hampered Gubner’s expectations
of making the U.S. team at the
1964 U.S. Olympic track and field trials,
so he turned his attention to weightlifting and made the
U.S. Olympic
Weightlifting Team. He narrowly missed
medaling, finishing fourth in the Heavyweight
class at the 1964 Games.
Gubner went on to establish four Junior
World lifting records in the Heavyweight
class: 3871/2 pounds in the press;
324 pounds snatch; 4231/2 pounds clean
and jerk; and a total pounds 1,135. In
1965, he set a U.S. press mark of 412
pounds en route to lifting 1,180 pounds.
In 1961, after touring Europe with
the U.S. track and field team, which included
a Shotput victory over the vaunted Soviet entry and a “statement” visit
to Friday night services at a Moscow
synagogue, Gubner competed in the
Sixth Maccabiah Games in Israel, winning
gold medals in Shotput, Discus,
and Heavyweight Weightlifting. |