Commonwealth Games Flashback: Dean Lukin gets angry and grabs huge gold at 1982 Brisbane Games
AUSTRALIA had won Commonwealth Games gold medals in weightlifting before but no one had ever seen anyone like Dean Lukin.
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LIFTING the equivalent of two fridges above his head was all about getting angry for the pivotal moment that would etch the name of a South Australian tuna fisherman in Australian sporting lore.
Australia had won Commonwealth Games gold medals in weightlifting before but no one had ever seen anyone like Dean Lukin.
He was huge at over 130kg, he had thighs that looked capable of supporting a small apartment block and he had a no-fuss style that screamed pure power.
Did we say he had thighs like bulging telegraph poles?
Lukin was just 22 when he captured the imagination of fans way beyond the packed lifting arena at Chandler where a 1500-strong audience had crammed to watch the big boppers, the super heavyweights, lift for gold at the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games.
The wonderfully-named Ironbar Bassey, from Nigeria, may have had the best moniker in the competition as a bronze medallist but veteran Aussie Bob Edmond was young Lukin’s closest rival.
Weightlifting is an intensely personal duel between the lifter and the weight and getting in the perfect frame of mind.
In an interview for Men’s Health Australia magazine, Lukin gave an insight into the mentality that ultimately would crown him as Australia’s only Olympic gold medal weightlifter two years later at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
“As I was preparing for the lift, it was brother David who helped me the most by giving me a big slap on the face and a ‘giddy up’,” Lukin said of his moment in 1984.
“Weightlifting is you against the weight.
“It’s all over in a second or two.
“For me, it wasn’t about technique.
“It was about getting angry ... angry with the weight and angry with the challenge.”
In Brisbane, Lukin set a Commonwealth and Games clean-and-jerk record by heaving 221kg of metal above his head. His Games record total was set at 377.5kg and he would find another 35kg to win Olympic gold.
He was back in Edinburgh in 1986 to top the Commonwealth again for another gold medal.
The Lukin legend was established and Aussies loved his background in the family tuna business.
The work ethic instilled by his late father Dinko translated into a multimillion-dollar family business from the fishing hub of Port Lincoln.
Lukin’s massive frame shrunk dramatically with an accent on fitness and health and he put out a 1993 book, The Dean Lukin Diet.
More recently, he and son Dean junior are responsible for a grand vision as urban developers working hard to transform Port Lincoln with new housing precincts, resort facilities for tourists and a major upgrade for the commercial area.
Included are plans for a world-class golf course in the shape of a shark.
Who else would you consider to design such a layout but Greg Norman, The Shark himself, who visited Port Lincoln in 2013 to study the proposed site with Lukin.
One of the Lukin homes is on the Gold Coast so don’t be surprised if you spot one of the greats of the Commonwealth Games savouring this edition as an enthusiastic spectator.
Originally published as Commonwealth Games Flashback: Dean Lukin gets angry and grabs huge gold at 1982 Brisbane Games