[1] Born in Kecskemét, Hungary, Földi lived in his hometown until he turned 17 as a half-orphan after he lost his mother in World War II.

[4] Two years later he took part in his first major international event, the 1959 World Weightlifting Championships, where placed third in bantamweight.

[2] Földi won a silver medal at the 1970 World Championships, but this result was annulled after a positive doping test.

[6] Four year later at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City Földi came even closer to the gold, losing only on body weight – both him and his opponent Mohammad Nassiri ended with an overall result of 367.5 kg, which was a new world record; however, Nassiri was 300 grams lighter thus he was awarded the Olympic title.

[7][8][9] Földi eventually reached the top in 1972 when he won the Olympic gold medal – and doubled it as a World Championships title – in front of his main opponent Nassiri.

[14] In 2013, the Imre Földi Sports Scholarship was created in order to support Tatabánya-based top athletes.

[12] On 31 January 2007, following the death of Ferenc Puskás, Földi was elected a Sportsperson of the Nation (A Nemzet Sportolója), a special honor, that can have only 12 people at a time, is awarded for those of Hungarian sportspeople over 60, who produced outstanding achievements during their active career and played a key role in the domestic sports after their retirement as well.