John W. Schubert
by Scott Schmidt
Recently, one of the Icons of our Strength Sports, John W. Schubert passed away. He was approaching his 90Th birthday. As a tribute to all his involvement with perpetuating weightlifting in my hometown, Cleveland, Ohio, I thought it would be appropriate to let our USAWA organization know some of the history of all of John’s success.One of John’s closest ties to All Round Weightlifting was our past President, Howard Prechtel. The fellow Marines trained together, and both loved to conduct competitions in Olympic weightlifting and All Round weightlifting.
John started his weightlifting career in 1940. By the 1950’s, he won several physique contests. In 1957, he won the Junior National title in Olympic weightlifting. He also started his very well known and extremely successful Olympic Health Club. For years, he coached hundreds of athletes. In addition to his training many National Olympic Weightlifting Champions, John also had a good deal of influence on the success of 2 time Olympic Gold Medalist Chuck Vinci. Based on his coaching and individual success, John has achieved Sports Hall of Fame status at both the Local and National level.
Besides John’s passion to help others reach the very best of their ability, he also had a strong desire to compete himself. Even before the Masters program was introduced, when John was in his 40’s then 50’s, he was often in a medal winning position in his weight class in the Open Division. He stayed very competitive for years. Once he was able to compete in the Masters, not only did he win many titles, he set a tremendous amount of National records. While Olympic weightlifting was his primary sport, John was also highly successful in All Round weightlifting. Again, winning titles and setting records.
Regarding any event involving strength and fitness, John would gladly assist with his connections and organizational ability so the competitions would draw great attendance.
A true strength sport legend and innovator that helped positively influence and shape the character of hundreds of successful individuals.
May John Rest in Peace. And our thoughts and prayers go out to John’s family.