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He was taken to the hospital, where the doctors declared that his arm should be amputated. Tofalos' father opposed to it and finally proved to be right. His son recovered, but as a result of the accident one of his arms was shorter than the other. His physical defect did not stop him from becoming one of the greatest
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Tofalos' herculean strength was obvious from his childhood. Everybody talked about his physical abilities, and for some time he was considered a child prodigy, since he survived a very serious accident. He was playing around a railway station, when a wagon came down on him and almost smashed his arm.
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for financial reasons. He worked as a professional wrestler and became famous for his persistence rather than his strength. There were many reports about
Tofalos for a long time, when he refused to give up a game after a crushing arm-lock by the American
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by lifting the weight on his third attempt, whereas the
Austrian athlete with a rushed and rather anxious move failed without even managing to bring the bar close to his knees. Tofalos won the
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Sports in Patras, Tome B, From the
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in 1952, where he spent the last three years of his life. The municipality of
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After retiring, he spent many years of his life being the manager of
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The first version of this article has been based in the text of
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honored him by naming a newly built arena after him in 1995.
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Dimitris
Tofalos' grave in the first cemetery of Patras
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149:, setting a world record that lasted until 1914.
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366:Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen;
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425:. Hellenic Olympic Committee official website.
410:. Hellenic Olympic Committee official website.
343:. Hellenic Olympic Committee official website.
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478:Weightlifters at the 1906 Intercalated Games
278:Tofalos with his co-athletes of G.E. Patras.
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473:Medalists at the 1906 Intercalated Games
347:Website about Greek stadiums and arenas.
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178:due to a disease, he competed at the
221:World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion
33:Dimitris Tofalos, 1906 gold medalist
258:Dimitrios Tofalos (no. 700) behind
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214:In 1910, Tofalos travelled to the
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468:Olympic weightlifters for Greece
376:Olympics at Sports-Reference.com
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324:. Patras: Achaikes Ekdoseis.
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202:In the USA and comeback
190:champion broke his own
180:1906 Intercalated Games
170:1906 Intercalated Games
151:Dimitrios Tofalos Arena
147:1906 Intercalated Games
436:Dimitris Tofalos arena
320:Polites, N.G. (1997).
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380:Sports Reference LLC
306:el:Δημήτριος Τόφαλος
176:1904 Summer Olympics
153:is named after him.
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372:"Dimitrios Tofalos"
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81:Intercalated Games
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262:(no. 872) at the
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157:Early years
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447:Categories
299:References
231:Jim Londos
196:gold medal
260:Steinbach
308:of the
245:Gallery
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239:Patras
235:Patras
132:Greece
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54:Men's
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136:Greek
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