Yury Vlasov a weightlifter and an intellectual
- Davit Ghazaryan-Sargsyan
- Sep 29, 2015
- 5 min read
Before we begin
It is very hard to describe all the hard work that Yury Vlasov did in the favour of weightlifting and the power sports on the whole. It is impossible to mention all the impact his knowledge has on modern weightlifting. Finally it is impossible to under-value his efforts in development of Soviet Weightlifting... This man is not only a weightlifter, but also a highly educated intellectual, writer, journalist... Anyway, we will try to tell you some major facts about one of the greatest weightlifters ever.
Family
Yury Vlasov was born in Makeyevka, Ukrainian SSR on 5th of December 1935, into the family of Pyotr Vlasov (a military journalist,a Soviet agent in China, etc.), his mother was a librarian. Perhaps his family was one of the reasons he became dedicated to the literature. Vlasov also had a brother Boris. He first married in 1957, to Natalia Modorova, a student of the Moscow Institute of Arts who was visiting his gym to paint athletes. They had a daughter Yelena. Vlasov remarried in 1976, after the death of his first wife, to Larisa Sergeyevna Vlasova, a student 21 years younger than he was.
Education
Yury studied at the Saratov Suvorov military school (1946–1953), at the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy in Moscow (graduated in 1959). He speaks Chinese from the early childhood, also speaks French fluently.
Weightlifting career
Height: 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Weight at the competitions: 125–136 kg (275-299lbs)
He was a shot putter, and wasn't throwing far enough, so he was adviced to gain muscle mass with the help of barbell. This is how he got interested in weightlifting. In 1956 he joined the Armed Forces sports society. Very soon he was already standing on the pedestal: in 1958 he became the bronze medal holder of the USSR championships with 470 kg/1034 lbs (Snatch+C&J+Press).
Before achieving that "bronze" he, in 1957, set two USSR records 144,5 kg/317.9 lbs in the snatch and 183 kg/402.6 lbs, but soon (within a month) Aleksey Medvedev (the previous record holder) set records too. In 1959 he won his first world title with 500 kg/1100 lbs (Snatch+C&J+Press), James Bradford from the US was the second with his 492.5 kg/1083.5 lbs. In 1960 Olympic Games in Rome he set three world records, pressing 180 kg/396 lbs, snatching 155 kg/341 lbs and clean and jerking 202.5 kg/445.5 lbs: 537.5 kg/1181 lbs in total. This total was more than Paul Anderson's unofficial 533 kg/1172.5 lbs (year 1956). He became the first man to clean and jerk more than 200 kg. By the end of the Games he was proclaimed the Best Sportsman of the Games and the "Strongest Man on the Planet".
During the period 1959-1963 Yury Vlasov's main opponent was Norbert Shemansky from the United States (4 times Olympian, Olympic Champion, Olympic vice-Champion, 2 times bronze medal holder). Shemansky, though being much older than his opponents two times set Vlasov's world records in the snatch and two times was the second behind Vlasov. Their most fierse rivalry was in 1962 when Vlasov won with advantage of only 2.5 kg. We, of course will speak about this great athlete in the near future...
Yuri Vlasov against Leonid Zhabotinskiy (both of them were from the Ukrainian SSR)
By that time Yuri Vlasov was famous not only among the sportsmen but also in the whole Soviet Union. Before the Games Vlasov announces about his retirement from the professional sport. So he wanted to leave unbeaten and to set records. In 1964 Zhabotinsky (later two times Olympic Champion, four times World Champion etc.) went to Tokyo to beat Vlasov, the man who was considered to be unbeatable. One of the Japanese newspapers wrote: "If you didn't see Vlasov's and Zhabotinsky's rivalry, then you didn't see the Olympiad".
How that happened
Press
Vlasov pressed 197.5 kg/434.5lbs (world record) and Zhabotinsky pressed 10 kg less.
Snatch
Snatch caused problems for Vlasov: he could snatch 162.5 kg/357.5 lbs only in the third attempt, Zhabotinsky snatched 167.5 kg/368.5 lbs (world record), he couldn't snatch 172,5 kg on his third attempt. Then Vlasov makes a mistake in the means of spending his energy, he uses 4th additional attempt which did not count towards the total, he snatches 172,5 kg/379,5 lbs to set a world record. The reason for this is, of course, obvious: he wanted to lift as heavier weights as possible before leaving professional weightlifting. After the snatch Vlasov was ahead with 5 kg.
Clean & Jerk
Before the c & j competition's beginning Zhabotinsky comes up to Vlasov and suggests: "Let us lift 200 kg and end the competition". This was a part of the tactics which made Vlasov to think that his opponent is glad with his "silver". Zhabotinsky lifted 200 kg/440lbs in his first attempt.
"I was trying to show that I wasn't ready to struggle for the "gold", I even changed my order for a lighter weight. Vlasov felt himself the master of the platform", - Zhabotinsky remembers. Vlasov's first attempt was lifting 205 kg/451 lbs, then - 210 (462 lbs). Zhabotinsky ordered 217,5 kg (more than the world record), pulled the bar and ... couldn't clean, though the majority of the weightlifting society (those who know about this rivalry) think that this was an intentional step. Anyway, Zhabotinsky says this was because of tension. Vlasov, thinking Zhabotinsky is out of the struggle, decides to clean and jerk 217,5 kg. Unsuccessful. In the video we attached to this material Vlasov says he could just clean and jerk 212,5 kg/467,5 lbs and make Zhabotinsky to lift 222,5 kg, which Zhabotinsky couldn't do Vlasov thinks... Anyway, Zhabotinsky clean and jerked those 217,5 kgs in his third attempt and wins the title.
Yury Vlasov, after his retirement, resumed trainings in 1966 for financial reasons and, in 1967 set his last world record pressing 199 kg. He got 850 rubles (it was a large amount of money then) for that achievement. He retired from weightlifting in 1968 officially.
After his retirement from weightlifting
In 1975 IWF acknowledged Yury Vlasov as the best weightlifter of all times.
After retiring from weightlifting Vlasov had health problems, underwent a spine surgery. But could overcome those problems.
He continued weight trainings through most of his life. In 2004 he took part in a masters competition and lifted 185 kg/407 lbs (clean and jerk) at the age of 69 weighing only 109 kg/240 lbs.
From 1985 to 1987 he was the president of the Soviet Weightlifting Federation, and from 1987 to 1989 president of the Soviet Bodybuilding Federation. Being a doping-free athlete (as the majority of the oldschool athletes), he is not appreciating the massive use of anabolic steroids by weightlifters and bodybuilders.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Yury Vlasov
Schwarzenegger considered Vlasov as a major motivation for his career. They first met in 1961 during the World Championships when Schwarzenegger was only 14. In 1988 they met the second time and Arnold gave Yuri his photo signed "To my Idol Yury Vlasov".
Yuri Vlasov as a writer
Vlasov was writting stories even before retirement from competitions. Since 1962 he was attending international championships both as a weightlifter and as a special correspondent to the Soviet newspaper Izvestia. Before the 1964 Olympics he published his first book, a collection of short stories titled "Overcoming Yourself". In 1973 he edited and published his father’s diaries titled "The Vladimirov diaries", which was translated into six languages, including English and Chinese. This is only a small part of his works...
Politics
Vlasov was elected to the Congress of People's Deputies for the Lyublyansky district of Moscow in 1989. In 1993 he was elected to the State Duma of the Russian Federation. He also was a candidate in the 1996 Russian presidential election.
Postscript
At least one thing is obvious: Yuri Vlasov is a living example showing that a man is known by his actions! As every great sportsman he has created a "monument of bravery and struggle" which should become an example to follow for the coming generations. Stay fit and climb the Olymp! Good luck. Watch a documentary about Yury Vlasov (English subtitles)
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