Olympic weightlifting champion David Rigert dies after long illness

David Rigert, a Soviet weightlifter and coach, has died after a long illness, Russia’s weightlifting federation said.

He was 79.

Rigert won Olympic gold in Montreal in 1976 in the light-heavyweight class.

He also won six world titles, nine European titles and five Soviet championships.

He set 63 world records and 64 Soviet records, making him one of the sport’s most successful competitors.

After retiring from competition, he coached the Soviet and Russian national teams, including at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

Rigert founded a weightlifting academy bearing his name in Taganrog in 1999, and was inducted into the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame that year.