IWF120y/10 – 1960: Yuri Vlasov (URS), the intellectual “strongest man”

Born in 1935, Yuri Vlasov started weightlifting 21 years later, while studying at the Air Force Academy. His talent and natural abilities were rapidly spotted, and in 1959 he earns his first World and European titles. But his glorious hour would come in 1960, during the Rome Olympic Games: in the Eternal City, in the men’s +90kg category, Vlasov gets the gold in 180-155-202.5-537.5 – at that time, three events were on the programme: press, snatch and clean & jerk. The C&J outcome remains a milestone in the history of weightlifting, as it meant the first time an athlete could lift more than 200kg. Named the “World’s Strongest Man” on several occasions, the Soviet ace wins three more World Championship titles (1961-1963), establishes 34 Word Records, and wins a second medal (silver) at the 1964 Tokyo Games. After that, he announces his retirement from the sport and dedicates his life to his other passion: writing. Often seen with glasses, he is called the “weightlifting intellectual” and will, in the subsequent years, shine as a successful novelist and journalist. Between 1985 and 1987, he leads the Soviet Weightlifting Federation and is elected on two occasions as a member of the Parliament: firstly in 1989, still at the Congress of People’s Deputies of the Soviet Union, and then in 1993, at the Russian State Duma. He passed away in 2021, but left a legion of fans behind: US star Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of them, as he publicly said on several occasions that Vlasov was his “idol”!

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