Inducted Posthumously into the Weightlifting Hall of Fame: January 25, 2023
Louis “Lou” Riecke Jr. was born on October 2, 1926, in New Orleans, the eldest of four children (two younger brothers and a much younger sister). His father owned a lumber business and was active in civic affairs. Lou took up weight training in 1943 as a high school senior under Bob Samuels at the New Orleans Athletic Club to gain muscular bodyweight and improve his athletic ability. After a brief stint in the Navy, Riecke joined the Louisiana State University weightlifting team which won the AAU Jr. National title in 1947. During the 1950s he won many AAU titles, and in 1955 Lou became Jr. National champion. Five times he was runner-up for the Senior National title.
In 1949, Mike Stansbury contacted the SAAU and sponsored a novice weightlifting meet in Abbeville, the first such event held in South Louisiana. In 1953, the first national collegiate weightlifting meet was held. On November 19, 1955, Walter Imahara entered his first competition. In 1956, with the support of SLI Dean of Men E. Glynn Abel, four members of Mike’s Gym, who were SLI students, qualified for the National Collegiate Weightlifting Championship in Columbus, Ohio. Team members included: Stansbury, Stafford Palombo, Cliff LeBlanc and Imahara. The following year in 1957, with the addition of Louis “Lou” Riecke Jr. of New Orleans, the team was successful in winning the first National Collegiate Weightlifting Championships for SLI. This was the first national team championship for the university in any sport. Louis Riecke Jr. was the owner of a lumber yard and from 1970-1980 was the strength and conditioning coach for the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers football team. Due to the strength of the defensive line, they were dubbed the “steel curtain.”
Lou Riecke made a significant contribution to strength and conditioning coaching by showing that the strength, skills, and equipment required for Olympic weightlifting could be employed to train professional athletes. His innovations were a critical factor in extending the playing careers of Steeler players and helped enable their decade of achievement. He was the strength coach for the New Orleans Saints for several years. Riecke was inducted in the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame in 1980, and in 2003 was an inaugural inductee of the USA Strength & Conditioning Coaches Hall of Fame. Riecke continued his athletic career into his 70s via the Senior Olympics, competing in the sprints.
In 1964, Riecke set a world record in the snatch (325 lbs.) at the age of 38, showing he was at least competitive with the very best in the world, if not superior, with respect to that lift.
Riecke represented the U.S. in the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The NOAC honored Louis Riecke Jr. as their Outstanding Athlete in 1965. One of Riecke’s secret strategies, recounted to Williams during the Mexican trip, was providing all of the football players with large amounts of fructose at the halftime of games, thereby giving them additional energy to finish the game. Led by Louisiana native quarterback Terry Bradshaw, the Steelers won four Super Bowls while Riecke was their strength coach. Louis Riecke Jr. died on May 31, 2017. He was survived by his wife Enid who is 95 and four daughters (Cynthia Curran, Ginger Gomes, Victoria Riecke, and Jamie Maxwell), seven grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren.
