Some believe Tommy Kono became the United States' best lifter in the 1950s.
York Barbell weightlifter Tommy Kono won two Olympic golds and one silver.
Some experts believe he's the best American lifter ever.
Who was Tommy Kono?
See:York Town Square post - Tommy Kono: 'He's the greatest weightlifter -- and I'm talking worldwide'
This panel, part of the Murals of York series, features two York-based Olympic weightlifters, Tommy Kono, center, and John Grimek, right. That's York Barbell's Bob Hoffman, four-time Olympic coach, at left.
York Barbell and Bob Hoffman turned out many Olympic weightlifters.
One of Hoffman's favorites was 1936 Olympian and two-time Mr. America John Grimek.
Read more about Grimek at John Grimek lifted up musclemen of York, Pa..
Look mom, only one hand. Legendary bodybuilder John Grimek lifts a York Barbell in this photo, courtesy York County Heritage Trust. Grimek finished ninth in the heavyweight division in the 1936 Olympics.
York's Bob Hoffman coached several Olympic weightlifting teams to medal level. He was assistant coach in 1948 and 1952 and head coach in 1956 and 1960.
In a book published a few years ago, John Fair provided an honest look Hoffman's story, as reviewed in the York Town Square blog post: Author muscles way into York's weightlifting, bodybuilding world .
York Barbell's Bob Hoffman was one of the Olympians to make York/Adams top top-athletes-of-the-century list.
Several years ago, the York Sunday News rated Bob Hoffman, founder of York Barbell, and Scott Strausbaugh, of canoe fame, among its top York and Adams counties sports figures in the 20th century. Special Olympian Loretta Claiborne was named to the list, too.
For details on their achievements, plus others on the list, see: Who were most prominent 20th-century sports heroes in York and Adams counties?
While you were watching Michael Phelps, this woman was winning gold, too.
While the United States entered Sunday's action with the most overall medals (54), the host Chinese had struck much more gold than anyone -- 27 at that point for the home team (11 more than the U.S.).
And while we pretty much know where most of that American gold came from (ahem ... Michael Phelps), the Chinese have been quietly hauling their share of top prizes as well.
So where have those 27 golds come from? Many were earned in events we haven't seen much of in primetime on NBC. Here's the Chinese gold breakdown so far:
-- 8 in weightlifting
-- 4 in shooting
-- 4 in diving
-- 3 in gymnastics
-- 3 in judo
-- 2 in badminton
-- 1 in swimming
-- 1 in archery
-- 1 in fencing
As for the Americans, they entered Sunday with 16 gold medals.
-- 11 in swimming
-- 2 in shooting
-- 1 in gymnastics
-- 1 in fencing
-- 1 in cycling
