John Bolton

Aucklander John Bolton had one of the great careers in New Zealand weightlifting.

Bolton, born in 1945 in Auckland, was a leading figure on the national scene from 1965-79.

He won his first New Zealand title, in the 75kg division, in 1965. Then he stepped up to the 82.5kg division, which he won from 1966-69. Next it was the 90kg grade, which he won in 1970-71 and 1979. Along the way he won the 100kg title in 1977 and the 110kg crown in 1973 and 1974 – 11 national titles in all.

Bolton competed at three Commonwealth Games and two Olympics and had two silver medals to show for his efforts.

In 1966, at Kingston, Jamaica, Bolton was 6th in the middleweight division, having lifted 110kg in the press, 107.4kg in the snatch and 139.9kg in the jerk – a total of 357.3kg. Don’t forget weights were actually measured in pounds and ounces in those pre-metric days.

At the 1968 Mexico Olympics, Bolton contested the light-heavyweight division and finished 16th of the 26 who entered. He had a press of 137.5kg, a snatch of 122.5kg and a jerk of 160kg, for a total of 420kg.

By the time of the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, he was a seasoned lifter and he performed exceedingly well to win the silver medal. His combination of 147.5kg in the press, 130kg in the snatch and 167.5kg in the jerk earned him a total of 445kg. He had a nip-and-tuck battle with Australian Nick Ciancio, whose total of 447.5kg earned him the gold.

Bolton needed to succeed with his final lift of 172.5kg to secure the gold and to many spectators in the Leith Town Hall, he seemed to have succeeded. He held the weight steady above his head, then with a roar of triumph dropped the bar to the floor. Cramping and exhausted, he was helped away by Les Mills, both believing the gold medal had been secured.

But two red lights gleamed in the semi-darkness. The lift had not been allowed. While the crowd shouted its disapproval, Bolton stood white-faced in the wings of the stage, Mills with his arms around him. They accepted the loss; they had to. Mills could not say for sure the lift was fair, but added, “Whatever it was, this remains the most brave, courageous performance I’ve ever seen from a weightlifter.” The third place-getter, Peter Arthur of Wales, was well back with a total of 427.5kg.

Bolton didn’t have a great time of it at the 1972 Munich Olympics, failing to record a height in the press.

And so to the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games. New Zealand had two representatives in the heavyweight grade – Bolton and fellow Aucklander John Barrett.

After the snatch, Bolton’s best of 145kg placed him third, behind Russell Prior of Canada and Nigel Martin of Australia. However, he bounced back particularly well in the jerk. With his first lift, he set a short-lived Commonwealth Games record of 187.5kg, but it was his second

lift of 195kg that set tongues wagging and gave him a total of 340kg. He made a valiant attempt to lift 207.5kg on his last attempt and just missed. His total wasn’t enough to match Prior, whose total was 352.5kg, but left him well clear of bronze medallist Barrett.

Besides his various Games activities Bolton had two outings at world championships. In 1971 he travelled to Lima, Peru and in 1974 to Manila, the Philippines.

After his weightlifting days, Bolton became an extremely successful businessman. He began in accounting/sales and marketing and progressed to senior management and then managing director roles, and was an important real estate figure on Auckland’s North Shore.