Vasily Alekseyev

Not to be confused with Vasiliy Mikhaylovich Alekseyev.
Vasily Alekseyev

Super-heavyweight medalists of the Montreal Olympics (1976). Vasiliy Alekseyev (gold, right) and Gerd Bonk of East Germany (silver, left) - the difference between their results was 35 kg.
Personal information
Full name Vasiliy Mikhaylovich Alekseyev
Nationality Russian
Born January 7, 1942(1942-01-07)
Pokrovo-Shishkino, Ryazan Oblast, Russia
Died November 25, 2011(2011-11-25) (aged 69)
Germany
Sport
Country Soviet Union
Sport weightlifting
Event(s) +110 kg
Medal record
Olympic medal record
Competitor for the  Soviet Union
Men's weightlifting
Olympic Games
Gold 1972 Munich +110 kg
Gold 1976 Montreal +110 kg
World Weightlifting Championships
Total
Gold 1970 Columbus +110 kg
Gold 1971 Lima +110 kg
Gold 1972 Munich +110 kg
Gold 1973 Havana +110 kg
Gold 1974 Manila +110 kg
Gold 1975 Moscow +110 kg
Gold 1976 Montreal +110 kg
Gold 1977 Stuttgart +110 kg
European Weightlifting Championships
Total
Gold 1970 Szombathely +110 kg
Gold 1971 Sofia +110 kg
Gold 1972 Constanţa +110 kg
Gold 1973 Madrid +110 kg
Gold 1974 Verona +110 kg
Gold 1975 Moscow +110 kg
Gold 1977 Stuttgart +110 kg
Gold 1978 Havířov +110 kg
USSR Weightlifting Championships
Total
Bronze 1968 Lugansk +102.5 kg
Gold 1970 Vilnus +110 kg
Gold 1971 Moscow +110 kg
Gold 1972 Tallinn +110 kg
Gold 1973 Donetsk +110 kg
Gold 1974 Tbilisi +110 kg
Gold 1975 Vilnus +110 kg
Gold 1976 Karaganda +110 kg
Summer Spartakiad of the USSR
Total
Gold 1971 Moscow +110 kg
Gold 1975 Vilnus +110 kg
Cups of the USSR
Gold 1970 Vilnus +110 kg Clean & Press
Gold 1970 Vilnus +110 kg Snatch
Gold 1970 Vilnus +110 kg Clean & Jerk
Gold 1970 Vilnus +110 kg Total
Gold 1972 Sochi +110 kg Snatch
Gold 1972 Sochi +110 kg Clean & Jerk
Gold 1972 Sochi +110 kg Total
Gold 1974 Zaprozhie +110 kg Snatch
Gold 1974 Zaprozhie +110 kg Clean & Jerk
Gold 1974 Zaprozhie +110 kg Total

Vasiliy Ivanovich Alekseyev (Russian: Василий Иванович Алексеев; January 7, 1942 village of Pokrovo-Shishkino, Ryazan Oblast - November 25, 2011 Germany) was a weightlifter from the Soviet Union.[1][2] He set 80 world records and 81 Soviet records in weightlifting and won gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich and the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.[3]

Contents

Biography

Alekseyev began practicing weightlifting at age 18. Alekseyev was trained at Trud Voluntary Sports Society by his coach Rudolf Plyukfelder until 1968, when he began to train there solo.

In January 1970 Alekseyev set his first world record,[2] beginning a series of 80 world records the weightlifter set between 1970 and 1977. He was unbeaten and held the World Championship and European Championship titles for those eight years. He was the first man to total over 600 kg in the triple event.[2]

However, Alekseyev's performance in the Moscow Olympics of 1980 was a disappointment. In the snatch he set his opening weight too high and was unable to lift it, scoring zero kilograms as the result. He retired from weightlifting after the Moscow Olympics.[1]

In 1987, Alekseyev was elected to represent the Ryazan District for the Soviet Union's Congress of People's Deputies.[2] Alekseyev worked as a coach between 1990 and 1992. Under his leadership the Unified Team earned ten medals in weightlifting at the 1992 Summer Olympics, including five golds.[4]

In 1999, in Greece, Alekseyev was acknowledged as the best sportsman of the 20th century. He was also awarded Order of Lenin (1972), Order of Friendship of Peoples, Order of the Badge of Honour (1970), Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1972). In 1993 he was elected member of the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame.[5]

Since 1966 he has lived in Shakhty. In 1971 Alekseyev graduated from the branch of the Novocherkassk Polytechnical Institute in Shakhty.

Alekseyev featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated on April 14, 1975, titled "World's Strongest Man".[6]

Alekseyev died on 25 November 2011 in Germany in a clinic where he had been sent due to serious heart problems.[1] He was 69. The Russian Weightlifting Federation reported his death and called him a "Soviet sports legend" and "one of the strongest people in the world".[7]

Profile

Career bests

World records

References

  1. ^ a b c Fyodorov, Gennady (2011-11-25). "Weightlifting-World record holder Alekseyev dies at 69". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/25/weightlifting-alekseyev-idUSLDE7AO01U20111125. Retrieved 25 November 2011. 
  2. ^ a b c d Croft, Lee B (2002) [1992]. Dawson, Dawn P. ed. Great Athletes. 1 (Revised ed.). Salem Press. pp. 35–37. ISBN 1-58765-008-8. 
  3. ^ Kubatko, Justin. "Vasily Alekseyev Biography and Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/al/vasily-alekseyev-1.html. Retrieved November 25, 2011. 
  4. ^ Kubatko, Justin. "Unified Team Weightlifting at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games Biography and Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/countries/EUN/summer/1992/WLT/. Retrieved November 25, 2011. 
  5. ^ "Weightlifting Hall of Fame". International Weightlifting Federation. http://www.iwf.net/iwf/organization/members.php. Retrieved 2008-08-07. 
  6. ^ "April 14, 1975 - Volume 42, Issue 15". Sports Illustrated. 1975-04-14. http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featured/8429/index.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-13. 
  7. ^ (Original Russian text: "легендой советского спорта" and "один из сильнейших людей планеты". "Ушел из жизни один из самых сильных людей планеты, Василий Иванович Алексеев" (in Russian). Russian Weightlifting Federation. 25.11.2011. http://www.rfwf.ru/federation/news/845.html. Retrieved 26 November 2011. 
  8. ^ "Alexeev Vasili (URS)". Database Weightlifting. http://www.iat.uni-leipzig.de/datenbanken/dbgwh/daten.php?spid=6F3304D258634466A42D0FBFE4826C55. Retrieved 2009-07-27. 
  9. ^ a b c "Vasiliy Alexeev". Lift Up. http://www.chidlovski.net/liftup/l_galleryResult.asp?a_id=5. Retrieved 2009-07-27. 
  10. ^ "World Records from 1896 - 1972". Weightliftingexchange.com. http://weightliftingexchange.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=38&Itemid=50. Retrieved 2009-07-27. 

Bibliography

External links

1972–1992: +110 kg, 1996: +108 kg, 2000–2008: +105 kg
1972+1976: Vasily Alekseyev • 1980: Sultan Rakhmanov • 1984: Dean Lukin • 1988+1992: Aleksandr Kurlovich • 1996: Andrei Chemerkin • 2000+2004: Hossein Rezazadeh • 2008: Matthias Steiner