The
SERGE REDING
Gallery
1965 - 71

If it is possible for someone to look better suited to the task of lifting record barbells than Vasily Alexeyev it would have to be this man, Serge Reding. Known in the sport of weightlifting as "the Big Belgian", Serge's incredible physique was envied by everyone. Even Alexeyev once said of him, "If I had his huge muscles there's no telling what I could accomplish!" While Reding was plagued with injuries by the time Alexeyev arrived on the scene, he proved a worthy adversary and managed to set his fair share of record scores (though rarely during head-to-head competitions with the Russian). These pictures validate his mastery on the platform.

	Three great early pictures of Reding from 1965. At age 23 here, he was already well on his way to becoming one of the biggest physical presences in the sport.
Completing the jerk exercise.
	Performing the squat-style snatch.
Reding and Bob Hoffman, the father of American lifting, in 1969. Did you know that by profession Reding was a librarian at Belgium's National Library? Puts a new slant on the phrase 'heavy reading', doesn't it?
	In the training facility in Lima. As part of his training routine Reding often performed the dead lift capping it off with a toe raise. No doubt a part of the reason for his tremendously well developed calves.
Resting up during a training session in Lima. In the foreground? You guessed it...Alexeyev.
	Cinching up for his first attempt in the press at the 1971 worlds in Lima, Peru.
It's almost there.
	He's locked it in. Unfortunately this great start went for naught when a shot taken shortly after this lift damaged a nerve in his wrist rendering it useless for the remainder of the meet.
Another shot from Lima.
	Back to gym to get ready for battle with a hopefully healthy Alexeyev in Brussels.