Lennart “Hoa-Hoa” Dahlgren was the profile that put weightlifting on the map.
But success did not come by chance.
Just listen to the enormous amount of scrap he lifted – every day.
It is perhaps through SVT’s long-running show På Spåret that Lennart Hoa-Hoa Dahlgren really endeared himself to the public. Together with the journalist Cecilia Hagen, Dahlgren totally excelled in the program for many years – but for all those interested in sports in Sweden, Hoa-Hoa was a favorite long before that.
Big favorite in Sweden
It was through weightlifting that Lennart Dahlgren became “Hoa-Hoa” with the entire Swedish people. Dahlgren broke through in the sport in the early 70s, before the doping scandals began to replace each other and completely destroy the sport. And it was largely thanks to Dahlgren that the sport became so popular in Sweden.
Lennart Dahlgren won his first SM gold in weightlifting in 1973, but he had already made a name for himself during his first competition. It was thanks to his characteristic roar that he always made before and during take off that he was nicknamed “Hoa-Hoa”, which simply described the sound he made when he launched himself. The roar of the Hoa-Hoa also brought him a lot of attention abroad, especially during the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
Revealing the bizarre figure
Dahlgren only finished eleventh in that Olympic competition, but he still won the hearts of all TV viewers with his wonderful roars during the competition. But Dahlgren was forced to live extremely to succeed so well in the sport.
In an old SVT feature, which was played in the program Stopptid, the reporter Jan Svanlund told, among other things, that Hoa-Hoa, when he was at his best, lifted eight tons (!) every day.
There was also a lot of food, and above all milk, to have enough energy to be able to train and compete.
– I usually drink five liters of milk a day. Goes to quite a lot of manger, too, Dahlgren told the program.
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