At the Weightlifting finals in the bantamweight division at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, a stocky Filipino—balding, short in stature, almost 39 years old, considered rather advanced in age for the sports—stunned the audience when he placed 6th overall after all his lifts were totaled. PEDRO LANDERO, born on 19 Oct. 1913, was the oldest among the competitors who placed in the Top 12, most of whom were just in their 20s and early 30s. So to barge into the Top 6 was no mean feat, but a small victory in itself, for in so doing, he also set a new bantamweight record lift that would endure for years.
There is scant information about Landero’s beginnings but we do know he was trained under Prof. Candido Bartolome, considered the father of Physical Education of the Philippines. The American-schooled professor established the Department of Physical Education at the University of the Philippines and acted as head of the country’s delegation to the Olympics. He taught Landero and classmates Reynaldo Perez, Ruperto Villamor, Jose Chen and Esmeraldo Eco how to do gymnastic stunts for events and socials. They once entertained 700 guests at a rooftop garden party hosted by the U.P. President Bienvenido Gonzales on 24 June 1939, which received much praises.
Weightlifting was not Landero’s first sport---it
was wrestling. He joined the Ben Gallegos Club (BGC), which was a
gym club that trained its members and fielded them to various competitions—from
weightlifting, physical culture contests, to wrestling. He participated in wrestling tournaments and began winning most matches.
At the 1948 National Wrestling Championship, he represented his club and won the Bantamweight division title, by decisioning AFPs’ Lt. J. Carreon after 15 minutes of strenuous wrestling. The next year, at the 1949 Wrestling Championship, he would retain that title by default—when his opponent did not show up. That’s when he realized perhaps, that wrestling was a sport that held little to Filipinos. Fewer contestants signed up for the tournament this year and that the same old names—Landero, Luna, Bernabe and Florendo—keep dominating the events, due to the absence of competition.
With a body weight of 136 pounds, he qualified for the Lightweight Division, ten went on to surprise himself with a 3rd place finish, lifting a combined total (press, snatch, jerk) of 600 lbs. The unattached lifter, Luis Dumag won the Gold with his 625 lbs. effort, followed by Gervacio Canlas of BGC with a 620 lbs. lift.
Thus began an unexpected journey to the sport of weightlifting. He made so muchprogress that in a year, he was handpicked, along with Rodrigo del Rosario, to compete in the inaugural multi-sports continental games--the 1st Asian Games in New Delhi, India. His lucky streak continued as he bagged his first international weightlifting medal—a Bronze—in the bantamweight class (56 kg.) . Gold and Silver went to Mahmoud Namjoo and Ali Mirzaei, both Iranians, whom he would meet again in the premiere sporting event of all—the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.
Lost in the hoopla of del Rosario’s triumph was
the remarkable 6th place finish of 39 year-old bantamweight Landero
in a field of 19 starters, one of only 2 senior lifters who completed
their lifts (2 lifters from Japan and Romania dropped out). The
other was Germany’s Josef Schuster, age 46, but he ended a
distant 14th. Gold went to Russian Ivan Udodov (age
28), while Iran’s Namjoo (age 34) and Mirzaei (age 23) claimed Silver
and Bronze.
Though Del Rosario got the lion’s share of sports fans’ attention, Landero’s top 6 finish was, to him, a cherished one. He vowed to train harder, as has already set his sight on the next Olympics, in Melbourne. The 2nd Asian Games hosted by Manila in 1954 was another chance to chase weightlifting honors, but it was Rodolfo Caparas who battled it out at the bantamweight finals and won a prized Silver. Landero opted to wait for the 1955 National Weightlifting Championships where he moved up to the featherweight class—and clinched the title, along with lightweight Kuan Sun, middleweight Higinio Villar, and middle-heavyweight Manuel Tan.
That win became Landero’s passport to the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, the first to be held outside Europe. It is also known for the multi-nation boycotts that marred the Games. But yesteryear’s sports fans remember it for early exit of the now 43 year old Landero who was expected to do well. He opted to start his Press lift at 95 kgs. , but failed not once, but thrice. Thus, Landero could no longer proceed and bowed out of contention. He was declared retired. From 6th place in Helsinki, he finished last in 16th place. American Charles Vinci topped the bantamweight division that year. Landero’s ignominous defeat led to his decision to retire permanently from weightlifting.
After the Olympics, not much was heard about his life,
his family, and even his eventual passing. Landero seemed to have gone
from a place of renown to complete
obscurity. But certainly, what will not pass into oblivion is Pedro
Landero’s weightlifting legacy,
achieved in his maturity and reaching its peak in his seniority, proving to all
that in the pursuit of excellence, age is no barrier.
SOURCES:
“U. P. President and
Mrs. Gonzalez To Entertain for Faculty “, The Tribune, 22 Jun. 1939, p. 5
“1948 Wrestling
Championship”, The Filipino Athlete,,
May 1948, p. 11
“1949 Wrestling
Championship”, The Filipino Athlete,
June 1949, p. 16
“Winners of the 1955
National Weightlifting Championship”,
PROGRESS 1955
1951 Asian Games,
Wikipedia
1952 Helsinki Oympic
Games, Wikipedia
1956 Melbourne Olympic
Games, Wikipedia
Photo: Olympedia, Pedro
Landero, https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/56489
Udodov, Namjoo,
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