Topic: News: Weightlifting Legend Kono Returns to Sacramento Roots

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Weightlifting Legend Kono Returns to Sacramento Roots

Dozens of the best area weightlifters came out to Sacramento High School Saturday to take part in the Tommy Kono-Iron Dragon Open, an inaugural event dedicated to one of Sacramento's all-time greatest -- and most underappreciated -- sports heroes.

"I never dreamed I would come back to Sacramento High School," said U.S. Olympic gold medalist and former Mr. Universe Tommy Kono. Before Saturday's event, the 76-year-old weightlifting and bodybuilding legend made his first return to his alma mater in more than 50 years earlier this week.

Born in Sacramento in 1930, Kono was an unlucky athlete. A sickly child who developed asthma by the age of two, Kono and his family spent over three years in a Japanese internment camp during World War II.

But once Kono developed a love of weightlifting in 1947, his career quickly came into focus. Within four years of taking up the sport, Kono won the gold metal in the 148 lbs. lightweight division at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland. Kono was the sport's undisputed king in the 1950's, winning eight straight world titles from 1952 to 1959, setting 26 world records. Kono also set seven Olympic records in his career, including another gold metal in 1956 and a silver in 1960.

Kono was also a successful bodybuilder, winning the title of Mr. Universe in 1955, 1957 and 1961. During that last contest in Vienna, Austria in 1961, Kono came face to face with one of his biggest fans -- a young Austrian teen named Arnold Schwarzenegger. Years later, Kono crossed paths with the now-internationally known megastar, who still fondly remembered his boyhood idol.

"He said I remember seeing you in 1961. I was 13 years old and I was in the audience," Kono said. "A lot of people say, 'Do you know Arnold?' But the point is, he knows me."

Kono now lives in Hawaii.