A world record: 60 years in service to weightlifting

Hubert Montgomery is a very special character in international  weightlifting community with a very special historical background.

To improve my body I started training with weights in 1949. I joined a weightlifting club in my town, Strand, near Cape Town in 1951 and was taught the three Olympic lifts, namely press, snatch and clean & jerk. My age was 19 years. I also played rugby for my local town, but got hooked on weightlifting and this became my sport.

The sport of weightlifting in South Africa started in the early 1930's and regular national championships were held annually. Our National Federation became a member of the IWF in 1946. Two of our RSA lifters took part in the 1948 Olympics in London. In 1955 I got married and the local weightlifting club called the Hottentots Holland Club moved to my house, in my garage. My wife, Hester, became the secretary and I the chairman of this club in 1955. Taking part in my first South African Championships in 1959 I lifted as a featherweight +/- 60kg. I won two national titles in 1964 and 1965 in this division. In 1963 I had the privilege to represent South Africa at the World Championships in Stockholm and placed 12th in this division. South Africa had a six man team at Stockholm. During the 1950's and early 1960's we competed at many Commonwealth and World Championships.

Because of our Government policy of apartheid in 1950 which ruled that non-whites may not represent South Africa in a national team taking part in world champs and Olympic Games, we were expelled from the IWF in 1969.  A few outstanding non-white weightlifters left the country for Canada and England and represented those countries at world champs, Olympic and Commonwealth games. Our government tried to compensate for this negative policy in our sport by hosting a South African Games every 4 years, but it did not work and impacted on the quality of our top sportsmen and women. Our Federation's President Mr Clarence Oehley invited the IWF General Secretary Oscar State to South Africa in the early 1970's to motivate our top lifters but to no avail. We competed against Rhodesia in 1973 and 1974. In 1977 I became vice President of our National Federation and we had unofficial contests against countries like Taiwan, West Germany and America to motivate our lifters. In 1981 I became the President of the South African Weightlifting Federation and organized an unofficial match against West Germany in Germany. Hester became my secretary in 1982. We also invited the German team back in South Africa in 1983 to give our lifters the opportunity to represent our country.  In 1984 the same thing happened with a team from America with Bob Hise as the manager. When Bob Hise returned to America he was expelled from the American weightlifting federation.

During 1980 I realized that we must keep the morale of our lifters up and I introduced a plan where we selected South African A and B teams to compete, with national colors awarded.  In this way, under very difficult circumstances, our sport was kept alive. In 1987 both Hester and myself resigned from the Federation but stayed on in an advisory capacity. Finally in February 1990 our politicians came to their senses and our state President Mr. de Klerk made his famous speech in Parliament to scrap "apartheid" and released Nelson Mandela from Robben Island.  I immediately arranged a meeting with the non-white weightlifting federation in South Africa to form one body before applying for South Africa's re-admittance to the IWF. I also wrote to the IWF informing them of our progress. I chaired the meeting with the so-called non-white body on 14 September 1991 in Cape Town and one body called the SA Weightlifting Federation was established.  I also thanked Mr de Klerk for his guts to stop "apartheid" in South Africa.

In 1991 I received a letter from the IWF welcoming us back into the IWF.  Hester and I attended the IWF Congress in Donaueschingen in 1991 where, after my speech to the Congress, we were unanimously accepted back into the IWF, after 22 years of isolation!! What a relief for us. In 1992 Mr Gamil Hanna, WFA President, invited us to our first African Champs in Kenya.  In 1994 we hosted the African Champs in Cape Town and in 1997 the World Junior Champs. Since then we have attended the African Champs every year and also hosted this event in 1999,2001 and 2008.

Hester and myself still remain Secretary and Chairman of our local club. This venue has also become the headquarters of our Federation. For 54 years we have worked voluntarily for the sport of weightlifting. Could this be a weightlifting world record?  Our Federation has grown from strength to strength. At present we are taking part in all major world events.  At the African Champs held in South Africa in 2008 I was awarded the IWF gold medal for service to weightlifting in Africa. For many years I was a Board member of the WFA and now Hester has been elected to this position.