Yuri Petrovich Vlasov - biography, life stories, achievements. Vlasov Yuri Petrovich Yuri Vlasov weightlifting
Parents
His father, Pyotr Parfenovich Vlasov (1905-1953), a graduate of the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies named after N. N. Narimanov, worked as a TASS correspondent in China from 1938 to 1940, and from 1942 to 1945 as a liaison officer for the Comintern under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee. In 1946, Pyotr Parfenovich went to work at the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1948 to 1951 he served as Consul General of the USSR in Shanghai, and since 1952 as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the USSR to Burma.
Mother - Maria Danilovna, originally from Kuban, worked as the head of a library. From an early age, Maria Danilovna instilled in her sons, Yuri and Boris, a love of reading books. She passed away in 1987.
Suvorov Military School
In 1946, Yuri Vlasov entered the Saratov Suvorov Military School, which he graduated with honors in 1953. Dreaming of being like his father, he wants to become a diplomat.
While studying at the school, Yuri repeatedly achieved success in the sports field. Completing the second men's category in athletics, he easily skied, skated, shot put and threw a grenade. At the wrestling championship held in Saratov, he takes first place.
By the age of fifteen, Yuri weighs about 90 kg, begins to be interested in strength sports, but for now mostly from books. Reads “The Path to Strength and Health” by the legendary strength athlete and wrestler Georg Hackenschmidt.
Air Force Engineering Academy
After Suvorov Military School, Yuri Vlasov entered the Moscow Air Force Engineering Academy named after N. E. Zhukovsky. After graduating from it, in 1959 he received a honors diploma and a military specialty - aviation radio communications engineer.
It was while studying at the academy that Yuri became involved in weightlifting, which, by and large, he had not been interested in before. But his first steps and first successes in his new field were phenomenal - already in 1957, training under the guidance of his first coach Evgeniy Nikolaevich Shapovalov, Yuri fulfilled the standard of a master of sports in weightlifting. His first all-Union record: clean and jerk - 185 kg, snatch - 144.5 kg. The Master of Sports badge is presented to Yuri Vlasov by the legendary Marshal Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny himself. In the same year, Vlasov set a number of records of the all-Union rank, which ensured his place in the list of the best weightlifters of the USSR.
After graduating from the academy, Yuri begins to train under the auspices of CSKA, Suren Petrosovich Bagdasarov becomes his coach, and then his friend. As a cadet, Yuri devotes all the time remaining after classes at the academy to training, sometimes denying himself his favorite pastime - reading books.
1957 for Yuri also became a year of testing - at a competition in Lvov, while trying to lift a record weight, he injured his leg and spine. In the same year, Yuri Vlasov met his future wife, art student Natalya Modorova, who by chance made sketches in the hall where Yuri trained. The support of his wife and true friends, Bagdasarov and Shapovalov, helps Yuri get back into action and win all imaginable and inconceivable records.
In 1959, he was awarded the honorary title of Honored Master of Sports of the USSR. In the same year, at the World and European Championships, held in Warsaw, an already certified military engineer pushes a barbell weighing 197.5 kg and in the triathlon total shows the coveted 500 kg, which demonstrates to the sports community the intention to continue to destroy the records of the American weightlifting team hitherto , as it seemed to many, unattainable.
1960 Olympics in Rome
The 1960 Olympics, held in the Italian capital, were decisive in the fate of Yuri Vlasov. On August 25, Vlasov, easily holding the flag of our country with one hand, walked through the Olympic stadium along with the USSR team. He had to fight with American weightlifters Norbert Shemanski and Jim Bradford, his main heavyweight competitors. Vlasov emerged from the battle of the titans as an absolute winner, even crushing the results of another American, Paul Anderson, which dominated weightlifting at that time and, according to the American media, would be unattainable for at least another hundred years.
At the Olympics in Rome, Vlasov refuted all the existing canons of weightlifting and for the first time demonstrated to the public and the world community that a champion can be a comprehensively developed person, an individual. A highly educated intellectual appeared before the public, with the ability to easily talk with journalists about world literature and art. Yuri Vlasov knew French and Chinese. He won the attention and respect of the journalistic community, which not many have achieved.
Yuri Petrovich Vlasov was recognized as the best athlete of the Rome Olympics and was awarded the title “The Strongest Man on the Planet.” Thanks to Vlasov’s victory, weightlifting became a popular sport on all continents and all over the world for many decades.
In Rome on September 10, 1960, Vlasov competed in the super heavyweight division, bench pressed 180 kg, lifted 155 kg, and in the third attempt pushed a record 202.5 kg. In the sum of three movements, he gains 537.5 kg - an unprecedented figure at that time, breaking the monopoly of Paul Anderson (Anderson’s official record is 512 kg and 533 kg, shown at domestic competitions in Texas, both in 1956). Yuri Vlasov overtook Olympic silver medalist Jim Bradford by as much as 25 kg, leaving him far behind.
At the closing ceremony of the XVII Olympic Games, Yuri Vlasov again triumphantly carries the banner of the Soviet team. The 1960 Olympics deservedly bears the name of the legendary Yuri Vlasov.
1964 Olympics in Tokyo
In 1964 in Tokyo, the Olympic weightlifting competitions aroused increased interest. Yuri Vlasov remained the undisputed leader of our team. His main opponent in Tokyo was his USSR national team colleague Leonid Zhabotinsky.
The main clash of heavyweights (Vlasov weighed 136.4 kg, Zhabotinsky - 154.4 kg) took place on October 18. In the first competitive movement, the bench press, Vlasov is 10 kg ahead of Zhabotinsky, setting a new world record of 197.5 kg. In the snatch, Yuri takes 162 kg against Leonid’s 167.5 kg, in the fourth attempt, which is no longer included in the official count, he breaks the world record of 172.5 kg. But the gap in total is reduced to 5 kg, Vlasov is still in the lead.
The main intrigue of the Tokyo Olympics took place in the third exercise, the clean and jerk. According to the recollections of both its participants, it was a strategic game in which Jabotinsky was destined to win - in the third attempt he pushes 217.5 kg, overtaking Vlasov (210 kg) and becoming the Tokyo Olympic champion. Yuri Vlasov is an Olympic silver medalist, a true idol of millions.
Latest record
Being devastated by the constant struggle on the platform and in the hall, after the Tokyo competition, Yuri Petrovich Vlasov stops professional training, completely devoting himself to his second favorite activity - literature. But having resumed training in 1966, in 1967, at the Moscow championship, Yuri set the last world record in the bench press - 199 kg, for which he received 850 rubles. In 1968, Vlasov officially retired from big sport, retiring from military service, leaving 41 USSR records, 31 world records, 4 world championships and 6 European championships conquered.
In 1960, Vlasov was awarded the Order of Lenin, and in 1964 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. Yuri Petrovich Vlasov was recognized as the best athlete of the country, the year and the entire twentieth century.
Writer
Since 1959, Vlasov has been publishing essays and stories; in 1961, he won the second prize in the competition for the best sports story (the first prize was not awarded). In 1962, he came to the European Championship not only as an athlete, but also as a special correspondent for the Izvestia newspaper. “Overcome Yourself” is the first collection of stories by Yuri Vlasov, published in 1964, even before the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
In 1973, after seven years of work, the book “Special Region of China. 1942-45” was published, published under the pseudonym Vladimirov, in memory of his father. In 1984, Yuri Vlasov’s book “Fairness of Force,” well-known in sports and other circles, appeared, which was republished in 1989 and 1995. In 2005, "Red Jacks" was released.
In the literary field, Yuri Vlasov proved himself as a historian and publicist, a person who is not indifferent to the future of our country, for which in Soviet times he wrote “on the table” for a long time.
Social and political figure
In 1985, Yuri Petrovich Vlasov headed the USSR Weightlifting Federation. From 1987 to 1988 - the USSR Athletic Gymnastics Federation (bodybuilding), after its long-awaited recognition at the state level.
In the difficult years of 1993-95, Yuri Vlasov was elected to the State Duma. He works in the Security Committee, until the summer of 1994 he was a member of the Russian Way deputy group, and in February 1994 he nominated himself for the post of Chairman of the State Duma. Later in 1996, he ran for the presidency of the Russian Federation, but dropped out of the election race in the first round, officially gaining 0.2% of the vote. During the same period, Vlasov’s opponents initiated a “Special Issue” with a fictitious obituary, reporting his death. Afterwards, Yuri Petrovich Vlasov decides to leave big politics.
Today
Yuri Petrovich Vlasov was elected President of the Independent Pushkin Academy.
In 2005 he celebrated his 70th anniversary. In one of his interviews, Yuri Petrovich said that at the turn of his seventh decade he copes with a weight of 185 kg. Trains two to three times a week.
Previously, Yuri Petrovich had undergone several operations on his spine, but thanks to his fortitude he was able to return to sports again.
On December 5, 2010, on the day of Yuri Petrovich Vlasov’s 75th birthday, the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev congratulated him, thanking him for “a bright mark in the history of weightlifting”, for “victories at the Olympics and international championships”, for “dozens of world records” and for serving “the development of elite sports in our country.”
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Great Athlete. |
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In 1967, when Yuri returned to big-time sports due to financial problems and set his 31st world record in weightlifting, the USSR paid him 850 rubles. In 1968, Vlasov left big sport forever. But let's talk about this great man from the very beginning.
Record holder with glasses
In those days, naturally, the word “hipster” was not known, but by today’s standards, the stylish frame of Yuri Petrovich’s constant glasses is quite in line with the current trend. It's a shame he doesn't wear them now.
Vlasov was born on December 5, 1935 into an intelligent family: his father is a diplomat, intelligence officer, GRU colonel and specialist on China, his mother is the head of a library. The sources say practically nothing about Vlasov’s fate during the war years, so let’s get down to his great journey straight away.
As a boy, while studying at the Suvorov School, Yuri was struck to the heart by the book “The Path to Strength and Health” by Georg Hackenschmidt, published in 1911, even with the signs “yat” (by the way, you can download it), and he knew for sure that his path was predetermined . At the age of 14, he already began his brilliant sports career.
By the way, his fate was repeated in his time by the famous Arnold Schwarzenegger, for whom Vlasov was the main idol. Arnold also became firmly convinced of his path as a bodybuilder early on and at the same age began to show athletic success. Once at a competition, during a break between approaches, a 15-year-old boy, Arnold, was brought up to Vlasov. “I don’t remember what I said to him then. I was excited and kept repeating: don’t give up the sport! Love sports! Everything will be great. I myself went through such trials. He left with tears in his eyes.”
The meeting of Vlasov and Schwarzenegger many years later
Another quality that Arnold noticed in Vlasov was psychological pressure on his opponent. He showed his opponents even before entering the platform that the winner was known and there was no use in resisting. In sports, where a lot depends on attitude, this worked flawlessly.
Well, and, of course, work - hard, persistent, measured. Vlasov trained daily from 10 am to 4 pm. “My hair burned from sweat, I shaved it off,” recalls Vlasov, “from 19 to 33 years old I saw nothing but one very hard work.”
Yuri Vlasov fights for records
At the age of 21 in 1957, Yuri first became the USSR record holder in the snatch (144.5 kg) and clean and jerk (183.0 kg) and this was the beginning of Vlasov’s “ten-year run”.
In 1959 he won the World Championships in Warsaw.
And the next year, Yuri’s triumph took place at the Olympics in Rome - that Olympics was called the “Vlasov Olympics.” Vlasov stepped onto the platform for the last exercise (jerk and jerk) in a cool way: he started when all the competitors had already finished the competition. The first successful attempt immediately with a weight of 185 kg - and Vlasov receives Olympic gold and a world record in triathlon - 520 kg. The second attempt is 195 kg - and the world record in triathlon is already 530 kg. The third attempt - 202.5 kg (world record in the clean and jerk) and another in triathlon - 537.5 kg. The closest opponent was 25 kilograms behind Yuri.
This record became not only an official world record, but also exceeded the phenomenal achievements of the American Paul Anderson - official (512.5 kg) and unofficial (533 kg), removing all questions.
Vlasov at the 1960 Olympics:
“I have never seen such a triumph in my life! A huge hall of thousands of people jumped out of their seats, everything turned upside down, they burst onto the stage and took me in their arms. The police fought me off. When I crossed the street in Rome, the police blocked the road for me alone - in any unauthorized places,” Vlasov rejoices. Back then the athletes were fantastic legends.
For the next 2 years, Vlasov’s main rival was another American, Norbert Shemanski. Despite the fact that he was 11 years older than the Soviet weightlifter, he twice (in 1961 and 1962) temporarily took the world records in the snatch from Vlasov and twice (1962 and 1963) became second after him at the world championships.
Vlasov arrived at the next Olympics in Tokyo in 1964 as the main favorite. He was idolized not only in the USSR. His glasses, which he did not take off during his approaches, drew the attention of journalists to other aspects of his personality. “...He combined in himself all the qualities that can be required from an athlete. Strength, harmony, form and at the same time friendliness and intelligence. This engineer, who speaks several languages, is an example of a perfect person,” Swedish journalist Torsten Tanger wrote about Vlasov.
However, they failed to win in Tokyo. Vlasov’s opponent was teammate Leonid Zhabotinsky. A few months before the Olympics, Jabotinsky set world records in the snatch, clean and jerk and total, but by the beginning of the Games Vlasov managed to return these records. A battle of Soviet weightlifters was planned. The first exercise (press) is won by Vlasov with a world record of 197.5 kg, his teammate is 10 kg behind. In the snatch, Vlasov took 162.5 kg, allowing Zhabotinsky to reduce the gap to 5 kg (he took 167.5 kg). Apparently, this encouraged Yuri, and he does the incredible - he goes for the fourth approach, which does not count towards the competition (!), and sets a world record - 172.5 kilograms.
“With all my appearance I demonstrated that I was giving up the fight for gold and even lowered my starting weight. Vlasov, feeling like the master of the platform, rushed to conquer records and... cut himself off,” Leonid Zhabotinsky later commented. In the last exercise, Zhabotinsky pushed 200 kg, Vlasov - 210.
After this, the weight was set higher than the world record - by 217.5 kg. Vlasov’s third attempt to take this weight was unsuccessful, but Zhabotinsky succeeded the third time and ended up 2.5 kg ahead of the invincible Vlasov. Vlasov later recalled: “I had to push 212.5 kg, Zhabotinsky would then have to push 222.5 and he would not have been able to do this, and then I pushed 212.5 many times in training. Why didn't I do that? Because he did not consider Jabotinsky a rival. Why didn't you count? By his behavior behind the scenes. And that was my biggest mistake.”
If you are interested in understanding this most dramatic story, watch the program dedicated to this struggle:
After this Olympics, Vlasov gave up training and decided to leave big-time sports. One of the Japanese newspapers wrote: “The two strongest men in Russia - Nikita Khrushchev and Yuri Vlasov - fell almost on the same day.” The competition was held 4 days after Khrushchev was removed.
Vlasov himself said: “I left young. He could still compete for 5 years and win. I used to wake up at night, I was still strong, and a voice said, “Come back!” Come back! You will still have all the victories. In 2-3 years it will be too late.” So I lay there until the morning with these thoughts. It's not like playing chess or bridge at the world championship - you pay with your life. I saw how the hands stuck into the platform and the bones came out.” However, Vlasov’s departure was not final. Due to financial problems, Vlasov was forced to return: in the fall of 1966, he resumed training, and on April 15, 1967, at the Moscow Championship, he set his last world record, for which he received 850 rubles.
Yuri Vlasov - politician
“In the 60s and 70s, my name was erased from sports. They showed a film about the Olympics in Rome, praised other athletes, but not a word about me. I returned to people’s memory already in the 80s.” – says Yuri Petrovich.
In the late 80s, Vlasov went into politics. In 1989-1991 he was a people's deputy of the USSR, in the fall of 1989 he left the CPSU and publicly criticized the party and the KGB. In 1993-1995 he was a deputy of the State Duma, defeating Konstantin Borovoy in the elections: 24.5% voted for Vlasov then. But in 1995, Borovoy took revenge and defeated Yuri Petrovich in the elections.
Vlasov’s last political step was that in 1996 he ran for the post of President of Russia when Yeltsin was elected. Then he received 0.2% of the votes.
Unlike Vlasov, Schwarzenegger, who completely copied the fate of his hero, still succeeded in entering politics
“Whether under socialism or under capitalism, sycophants live well. You have no backbone, you are ready to crawl and lick - and in any system you will be a very necessary person. You will have a good career. You have a core, your own principles - under any system you will be erased and crushed, such people are not needed. I had a core, but it took superhuman strength and vital energy. The fact that I managed to survive - God forbid anyone else should experience this. And the most difficult operations, and lack of money, and not a single step in literature, and a silent blockade - they didn’t do anything to me,” recalls Yuri Vlasov. “I did it for the country, for the people. This may sound immodest, but it was the only thing that illuminated my life with meaning.”
Yuri Vlasov - writer
Even before finishing his sports career, Vlasov began to write. In the year of the 64 Olympics in Tokyo, his book “Overcome Yourself” was published, highly appreciated by his friend and writer Lev Kassil. Then, according to my father’s recollections, “Special Region of China,” which sold hundreds of thousands of copies and was translated into several languages.
“I wanted to write, I loved literature. I needed to get on my feet while I was young. But there was a danger of getting sucked into victories - after all, it is very flattering to be a champion. But I didn’t want to be dependent on sports and at the same time I didn’t want to be a dependent on sports,” recalls Vlasov. Literature is still the main work of his life - Vlasov continues to publish books. Two years ago, Yuri Petrovich’s two-volume book “The Great Repartition” was published - about relations between Russia and Japan from the end of the 19th century to 1945. But his most famous book, reprinted three times, is “Justice of Force” (which is still on sale on Ozone).
“I have started so many books that I need another 60 years to finish them all. “I love life very much,” recalls Vlasov in a documentary about him.
“This wonderful man stands apart in the history of world sports. Clean and decent, without any doping. This is exactly what a real Olympic champion should be - an intellectual, an intellectual, an athlete with a capital “A” and simply a citizen of his country” - this is the assessment the Soviet weightlifter received from the lips of Yuri Nikulin. There’s probably no other way to say it. Winner of Olympic gold in Rome, winner of four world championships and six European championships - all this is he, weightlifter Yuri Vlasov, whose biography has become an example to follow for future generations of young weightlifters.
From father to son
The future Olympic champion was born in Ukraine, in the city of Makeevka, Donetsk region. On December 5, 1935, Yuri Petrovich Vlasov was born into the family of the Soviet intelligence officer and diplomat Pyotr Parfenovich Vlasov and the hereditary Kuban Cossack woman Maria Danilovna Vlasova (nee Lymar). We should tell you a little more about the father of the future multiple record holder.
After graduating from the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies in 1937, P. P. Vlasov was associated with the Main Intelligence Directorate for the rest of his life. On instructions from a telegraph agency, he was sent as a war correspondent to China, where he worked until 1946. All this will be described in the future in the book “Special Region of China” by weightlifter Yuri Vlasov. The biography of Pyotr Parfenovich in the post-war years was connected with diplomatic work. Shortly before his death in July 1952, the father of the future great weightlifter was appointed ambassador extraordinary of the Soviet state to the Republic of Burma.
Unfortunately, after presenting his credentials, Pyotr Vlasov was unable to begin his diplomatic duties. Yuri Petrovich Vlasov has been proud of his father all his life, a man of amazingly bright destiny, which he repeatedly wrote about in his books dedicated to his childhood and his path in sports.
Weightlifter Yuri Vlasov: biography of a young athlete
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Maria Vlasova and her two children, Boris and Yuri, were forced to move to the Urals. It was there, in the Russian outback, that the head of one of the Moscow libraries instilled in her children a love of literature, which later affected the fate of Yuri Petrovich. During his childhood, the boy was fascinated by the mysterious adventures and travels of his favorite literary heroes, and he also wanted to become a war correspondent, like his father. It was decided that Yuri would enter a military school.
First victories...
The great Soviet weightlifter Yuri Vlasov set his first records within the walls of the Saratov Suvorov Military School, from which he graduated with honors in 1953. Suvorov's Vlasov's precocious muscles allowed him to easily win various city competitions. By the age of fifteen, Yuri Petrovich weighed about 90 kilograms, but it was just muscle - not a gram of excess fat. First category in skiing and skating, second category in athletics. At the All-Union Championship among cadets of the Nakhimov and Suvorov schools in the shot put, the young man became a prize-winner. In addition, his track record of sporting achievements includes the championship of the city of Saratov in
The life of Yuri Vlasov is increasingly reminiscent of sports competitions, however, this does not prevent him from entering the Military Engineering Academy named after N. E. Zhukovsky. Successful study at the academy allows him to receive a higher military education, as a result of which, upon completion of his studies, Yuri acquires the specialty of a radio communications engineer.
...And the first failures
It was within the walls of the military university that Vlasov first became seriously interested in barbells. Under the guidance of the mentor of the CSKA sports school Bagdasarov Suren Petrosovich, cadet Yuri Vlasov in 1957 set a record for the Soviet Union (snatch - 144.5 kg, clean and jerk - 183 kg) and became a master of sports. In the same year, a fateful event occurred.
A student of the Surikov Art School, Natalya Modorova, came to the CSKA training hall and needed to make sports sketches. The young people met and soon got married. The first failure, which resulted in the first serious injury, befell the athlete in Lvov. Unable to hold a record weight at competitions, weightlifter Yuri Vlasov, whose biography is described in this article, suffers a spinal injury. Only the dedication of his wife, the persistence of the coaches and the will of Vlasov himself helped the future Olympic champion return to the platform. From now on the whole world will know him.
XVII Olympic Games in Rome
Having seized world leadership in the heavyweight division since 1959, Yuri Vlasov was not inferior to any weightlifter in the world for five years.
09/10/1960. Soviet athlete Yuri Vlasov takes to the Olympic platform in Rome. His main rivals - James Bradford and the Olympic champion of Melbourne (1956) - have already completed their mandatory program, and everyone is waiting for the performance of the 25-year-old weightlifter from the USSR. Bench - 180 kg, snatch - 155 kg, clean and jerk - 202.5 kg. Amount - 537.5 kg. This is not only Olympic gold, this is a triumph of Soviet sports, this is a new world record!
Champion's Brief
- Warsaw. World and European Championships, 1959. Bench press - 160 kg, snatch - 147.5 kg, clean and jerk - 192.5 kg. Amount - 500 kg. Yuri Vlasov is a world and European champion.
- Milan. European Championship, 1960. Bench - 170 kg, snatch - 145 kg, clean and jerk - 185 kg. Amount - 500 kg. Yuri Vlasov is already a two-time European champion.
- Vein. World and European Championships, 1961. The total weight in triathlon is 525 kg. Yuri Vlasov becomes a two-time world champion and three-time European champion.
- Budapest. World and European Championships, 1962. The overall result in triathlon is 540 kg. The Soviet weightlifter becomes the world champion for the third time and takes the fourth European gold medal.
- Stockholm World and European Championships, 1963. With a triathlon result of 557.5 kg, Yuri Petrovich takes gold at the championship. This is the fourth gold medal of the world championship and the fifth award of the highest standard of the European championship.
- Moscow. European Championship, 1964. Based on the results of three types of exercises, the Soviet athlete sets a new world record and for the sixth time becomes the strongest weightlifter in Europe.
Tokyo Olympics favorite
The main rival of Yuri Vlasov at the Olympic Games in Tokyo (1964) was Leonid Zhabotinsky. The whole world watched the duel of these two great athletes. In the Olympic weightlifting discipline, Vlasov’s bench press sets a world record, 10 kg ahead of his teammate. In the snatch he lifts 167.5 kg, thereby reducing the gap to 5 kg. Yu. Vlasov manages to lift the weight of 162.5 kg only on the third attempt. Olympic gold was awarded in the clean and jerk.
In the first approach, L. Zhabotinsky fixes 200 kg. Vlasov can handle a weight of 205 kg, and then 210 kg, which is also overcome by Zhabotinsky. The scoreboard shows the number 217.5, which is higher than the world record. The hall froze in anticipation. Two attempts by athletes to take a record weight were unsuccessful.
The fate of Olympic gold is decided by the third and final approach. If none of the athletes takes this weight, then the victory is awarded to Yu. Vlasov, since he has his own weight of 136.4 kg versus 154.4 kg of his opponent. The first to appear on the platform is the 1960 Olympic champion, Yuri Vlasov, who fails to lift the weight. Leonid Zhabotinsky approaches the bar, and the weight is lifted.
The gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics is taken by a guy from Ukraine, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR Leonid Ivanovich Zhabotinsky, a future two-time Olympic champion, four-time world champion and two-time European champion.
Yuri Vlasov wins silver. The weightlifter no longer attended training after the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Only two years later, due to financial difficulties, Yuri Vlasov returned to big-time sports and in April 1967, at the Moscow Championship, he set his last record and said goodbye to big-time sports. In total, during his sports career, Yuri Petrovich set 31 world records. In addition to performing on the international stage, the weightlifter became the champion of the USSR three times and the winner of two sports competitions of the peoples of the USSR.
Idol of millions
The fight between two great weightlifters of our time at the Tokyo Olympics was watched by a 17-year-old Austrian boy, the future 38th governor of California, USA, Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger.
It was Yuri Vlasov’s victories on the international stage that inspired the future idol of all boys of the 70s and 80s to play sports. Yuri Vlasov and Schwarzenegger met twice: in 1960 in Austria and in 1988
Conquest of the literary Olympus
Since 1959, Yuri Vlasov has been trying himself as a writer. The first person to notice the weightlifter’s literary abilities was Lev Kassil, who recommended that Yu. Vlasov take up writing seriously. Already in 1961, for the best story about sports, he became the winner of the 2nd prize in the republican competition, organized by the editors of the newspaper “Soviet Sport”.
Vlasov goes to Budapest for the 1962 World Cup not only for sporting victories, but also as a special correspondent for the Izvestia newspaper to cover the events of the championship. Yuri Vlasov, whose books began to be published in 1964, became a writer in 1968. It was in this year that the athlete resigns with the rank of captain and seriously plunges into literary activity, thereby becoming a professional writer.
Yuri Vlasov: books
The first book, which collected stories about sports, was called “Overcome Yourself.” This collection of stories was published on the eve of the Tokyo Olympics. Then, in 1972, his story “White Moment” was published, and 4 years later - the novel “Salty Joys”. Between the publication of these literary works, in 1973, the novel “Special Region of China” was published, where the author, under the pseudonym Yuri Vladimirov, talks about the life and work of his father.
In the 1984 book “Justice in Strength,” the author reflects on the difficult lives of champions, the history of weightlifting, and his contribution to the sport. The three-volume “Fiery Cross” becomes a monumental work of the writer; this book, according to Yu. Vlasov, is a historical confession about the 1917 revolution. Many of the writer’s literary works were not published.
Due to a spinal injury, Yuri Petrovich was undergoing treatment for a long time. He underwent several operations, and there were moments when the athlete was on the verge of life and death. The wife and children of Yuri Vlasov were nearby all the time, helping to overcome all difficulties.
Further social and political activities
- From 1985 to 1987, Yuri Petrovich headed the Weightlifting Federation of the Soviet Union.
- From 1987 to 1988, he was the president of the newly created Athletic Gymnastics (Bodybuilding) Federation of the country.
- From 1989 to 1991, Yu. P. Vlasov was the people's representative in the USSR Parliament.
- 1992 The writer sharply criticizes the government's reform course in the Kuranty newspaper, calling on all the country's leaders to resign.
- From 1993 to 1995, Yuri Petrovich represented the deputy corps in the State Duma of Russia, running in 1994 for the post of head of this department.
- In 1996, after an unsuccessful presidential campaign, in which Yu. P. Vlasov nominated himself for the post of head of state, he retired from political and social activities. According to the voting results, candidate for the post of President of Russia Yuri Vlasov received 0.2% of the votes.
Interesting facts from the life of Yu. P. Vlasov
Veterans do not grow old at heart
What is Yuri Vlasov doing now? After the death of his wife, the writer married for the second time. He lives in a dacha near Moscow and is still involved in historical journalism. In December 2015, Yuri Petrovich Vlasov turned 80 years old.
We wish happiness and good health to the great athlete, writer, and person!
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Russia
| Sports awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Weightlifting | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
| Gold | Rome 1960 | heavy weight |
| Silver | Tokyo 1964 | heavy weight |
| World Championships | ||
| Gold | Warsaw 1959 | heavy weight |
| Gold | Vienna 1961 | heavy weight |
| Gold | Budapest 1962 | heavy weight |
| Gold | Stockholm 1963 | heavy weight |
| European Championships | ||
| Gold | Warsaw 1959 | heavy weight |
| Gold | Milan 1960 | heavy weight |
| Gold | Vienna 1961 | heavy weight |
| Gold | Budapest 1962 | heavy weight |
| Gold | Stockholm 1963 | heavy weight |
| Gold | Moscow 1964 | heavy weight |
Since 1959 he has been involved in literary activities, and from the mid-1980s to 1996 - in social and political activities. He headed the Weightlifting Federation (1985-1987) and Athletic Gymnastics Federation (1987-1989) of the USSR. People's Deputy of the USSR (1989-1991), Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation (1993-1995).
Biography
Sports career
In the spring of 1957, Vlasov first became the USSR record holder in the snatch (144.5 kg) and clean and jerk (183.0 kg); less than a month later, Alexey Medvedev regained his records. Vlasov achieved his first success at the USSR championships in 1958, taking 3rd place (470 kg). And in 1959 he took the lead in the heavyweight division and did not lose in competitions until the 1964 Olympic Games.
1959-1963
At the Olympic Games in Rome, September 10, 1960, Vlasov bench pressed 180 kg (the same as James Bradford from the USA, who eventually became the silver medalist), snatched 155 kg (5 kg ahead of his closest pursuers) and clean and jerked 202.5 kg , which gave a total of 537.5 kg (Bradford was 20 kg behind in the clean and jerk, and 25 kg in total).
Vlasov started the push when all the competitors had already finished the competition. First attempt - 185 kg, Olympic gold and world record in triathlon - 520 kg (the former belonged to American Paul Anderson since 1955. Second attempt - 195 kg - and the world record in triathlon becomes 530 kg. Third attempt - 202.5 kg (world record); the final result in triathlon - 537.5 kg - became not only a world record, but also exceeded Anderson's phenomenal achievements - official (512.5 kg) and unofficial (533 kg) - shown in 1956.
In 1959-1963, Vlasov's main rivals on the international stage were US athletes, primarily Norbert Shemanski. Shemanski, despite his age - he was born in 1924 - twice (1961, 1962) took the world records in the snatch from Vlasov and twice (1962, 1963) became second at the world championships. The rivalry was especially intense at the 1962 World Championships, when Shemanski lost by only 2.5 kg, winning the bench press and snatch.
1964 Games
Vlasov came to the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo as a favorite. His main rival was teammate Leonid Zhabotinsky, who in March set world records in the snatch, clean and jerk and total (by the beginning of the Games, Vlasov had returned the records). Zhabotinsky had a larger body weight (154.4 kg versus 136.4 kg), so in the event of equal results, Vlasov received an advantage.
Vlasov won the bench press with a world record of 197.5 kg, Zhabotinsky was 10 kg behind. In the snatch, Vlasov took 162.5 kg only on the third attempt, allowing Zhabotinsky to reduce the gap to 5 kg - he took 167.5 kg (the third attempt at 172.5 kg was unsuccessful). Unexpectedly, Vlasov went for a fourth, additional (not included in the triathlon) approach, in which he set a world record - 172.5 kg.
In the first attempt of the clean and jerk, Jabotinsky lifted 200 kg. “With all my appearance I demonstrated that I was giving up the fight for gold, and even lowered my starting weight. Vlasov, feeling like the master of the platform, rushed to conquer records and... cut himself off.” - this is how Jabotinsky later commented on the progress of the struggle. Vlasov pushed 205 kg, and then 210 kg. After this, the weight of the bar was set higher than the world record - 217.5 kg. Jabotinsky's second attempt was unsuccessful (later many believed that Jabotinsky did not lift the weight on purpose), Vlasov's third attempt was also unsuccessful, and Jabotinsky in his third attempt pushed the barbell and became an Olympic champion.
As one of the Japanese newspapers wrote, “the two strongest men in Russia - Nikita Khrushchev and Yuri Vlasov - fell almost on the same day” (the heavyweight competition took place on October 18, 4 days after Khrushchev’s removal).
Leaving big sport
As Vlasov himself recalled, immediately after the Games in Tokyo he abandoned active training. However, due to financial problems, he resumed training in the fall of 1966. On April 15, 1967, at the Moscow Championship, Vlasov set his last world record (for which he received 850 rubles), and in 1968 he officially said goodbye to big-time sports.
Literary activity
Since 1959, Vlasov has been publishing essays and stories, and two years later he became the winner of the second prize in the competition for the best sports story in 1961 (organized by the editorial office of the newspaper "Soviet Sport" and the Moscow branch of the Writers' Union; the first prize was not awarded). Vlasov went to the 1962 World Championships not only as an athlete, but also as a special correspondent for the Izvestia newspaper.
The first book, a collection of short stories “Overcome Yourself,” was published in 1964.
In 1968, after leaving big sport and being discharged from the army, Vlasov became a professional writer. In subsequent years, the story “White Moment” (1972) and the novel “Salty Joys” (1976) were published.
Then followed a long break, during which Yuri Vlasov wrote mainly “on the table”. In 1984, the book “Justice of Force” was published, and in 1989 its new, revised edition was published (the book indicates the years of writing: 1978-1979 and 1987-1989). An autobiography in form, the book contains numerous excursions into the history of weightlifting, reflections on sports and more.
Most of Vlasov's subsequent books are historical and journalistic, both of these genres are closely intertwined.
The most monumental work in Vlasov’s work is the three-volume “Fiery Cross”, the genre of which is defined by the author as “historical confession”. Vlasov said that the idea to write a novel about the revolution came to him in 1959, and then he began collecting materials. Since 1978, Vlasov has undergone several spinal surgeries; after a serious operation in 1983, he began to create a complete text. In 1991-1992, a two-volume edition was published, which did not include about a third of the written material; a three-volume edition was published in 1993. In this trilogy, Vlasov draws a conclusion about the identity of Leninism and fascism and contrasts Christian morality with Bolshevism.
In the 1990s, Vlasov wrote many journalistic articles, which were then published in separate collections.
Social activities in sports
In the late 1980s, Yuri Vlasov actively spoke out in the media against the use of doping in sports.
Political activity
- 1989-1991 - People's Deputy of the USSR. He was elected in repeat elections in the district. He was a member of the Interregional Deputy Group. At the First Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR on May 31, 1989, he made a speech in which he sharply criticized the CPSU and the KGB. In the fall of 1989, he left the CPSU.
On March 30, 1992, he published an article “Twilight of Democracy” in the Kuranty newspaper, in which he spoke out against the reforms being carried out in Russia and for the resignation of state leaders.
Worked on the Safety Committee. He was a member of the deputy group “Russian Way” (left in June 1994). In February 1994 he ran for the post of Chairman of the State Duma.
Sports achivments
Official competitions
| Year | Competition | Location | Result | Amount, kg | Press + snatch + clean and jerk | Own Weight, kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| International competitions | ||||||
| World Cup, European Championship | Warsaw | champion | 500 | 160 + 147,5 + 192,5 | 115,0 | |
| European Championship | Milan | champion | 500 | 170 + 145 + 185 | 116,7 | |
| 1960 | OI | Rome | champion | 537,5 | 180 + 155 + 202,5 | 122,7 |
| World Cup, European Championship | Vein | champion | 525 | 180 + 155 + 190 | 124,9 | |
| World Cup, European Championship | Budapest | champion | 540 | 177,5 + 155 + 207,5 | 130,0 | |
| World Cup, European Championship | Stockholm | champion | 557,5 | 187,5 + 160 + 210 | 131,5 | |
| European Championship | Moscow | champion | 562,5 | 190 + 165 + 207,5 | 130,7 | |
| 1964 | Olympics, World Championships | Tokyo | 2nd place | 570 | 197,5 + 162,5 + 210 | 136,4 |
| USSR Championship | ||||||
| Stalino | 3rd place | 470 | 155 + 135 + 180 | 112,4 | ||
| II Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR | Moscow | champion | 495 | 160 + 150 + 185 | 115,2 | |
| Leningrad | champion | 510 | 170 + 150 + 190 | 119,1 | ||
| Dnepropetrovsk | champion | 550 | 180 + 160 + 210 | 126,8 | ||
| Tbilisi | champion | 522,5 | 187,5 + 150 + 185 | 126,3 | ||
| III Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR | Leningrad | champion | 542,5 | 185 + 152 + 205 | 132,0 | |
World records
Until 1962, there was a clause in the rules according to which, when established in one competition in one exercise
several world records, only the best result was counted as an official record.
| Triathlon | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 537.5 kg | 180 + 155 + 202,5 | 1960 | 10 September | Rome | Olympic Games |
| 550 kg | 180 + 160 + 210 | 1961 | December 22 | Dnepropetrovsk | USSR Championship |
| 552.5 kg | 187,5 + 160 + 205 | 1963 | September 13 | Stockholm | World Championship |
| 557.5 kg | 187,5 + 160 + 210 | ||||
| 562.5 kg | 190 + 165 + 207,5 | 1964 | June 28 | Moscow | Europe championship |
| 570 kg | 195 + 170 + 205 | September 3 | Podolsk | ||
| 575 kg | 195 + 170 + 210 | ||||
| 580 kg | 195 + 170 + 215 | ||||
| Jerk | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 151.5 kg | 1959 | April 22 | Leningrad | |
| 153 kg | The 4th of October | Warsaw | World Championship | |
| 155.5 kg | 1960 | June 7 | Leningrad | USSR Championship |
| 163 kg | 1961 | December 22 | Dnepropetrovsk | USSR Championship |
| 169 kg | 1964 | January 26 | Moscow | |
| 170.5 kg | September 3 | Podolsk | ||
| 172.5 kg | October 18 | Tokyo | Olympic Games | |
| Push | ||||
| 197.5 kg | 1959 | April 22 | Leningrad | |
| 202 kg | 1960 | 10 September | Rome | Olympic Games |
| 205 kg | 1961 | 27th of June | Kislovodsk | |
| 206 kg | July 29 | London | ||
| 208 kg | September 29 | Schwechat (Austria) | ||
| 210.5 kg | December 22 | Dnepropetrovsk | USSR Championship | |
| 211 kg | 1962 | May 30 | Oulu (Finland) | |
| 212.5 kg | 1963 | September 13 | Stockholm | World Championship |
| 215.5 kg | 1964 | September 3 | Podolsk | |
| Press | ||||
| 186 kg | 1962 | April 2 | Moscow | |
| 188.5 kg | May 10 | Tbilisi | USSR Championship | |
| 190.5 kg | 1963 | June 29 | Vein | |
| 192.5 kg | August 29 | Podolsk | ||
| 196 kg | 1964 | September 3 | Podolsk | |
| 197.5 kg | October 18 | Tokyo | Olympic Games | |
| 199 kg | 1967 | April 15 | Moscow |
Anthropometric data during performances
Books
- Overcome yourself. - M.: “Young Guard”, 1964. - 270 p.
- Clown room. - M.: “Pravda”, 1965. - 48 p. (series “Library Ogonyok”)
- White moment: Stories, tales - M.: “Soviet Russia”, 1972. - 222 p.
- Vladimirov P. P. Special region of China. 1942-1945. - M.: Press Agency "News", 1973. - 656 p. - 150,000 copies.
- Salty joys. - M.: “Soviet Russia”, 1976. - 352 p.
- Justice of power. - M.: “Young Guard”, 1984. - 304 p.
- Formula of courage. - M.: “Knowledge”, 1987. - 94 p.
- Justice of power. - L.: Lenizdat, 1989. - 608 p. - ISBN 5-289-00374-6
- Geometry of feelings. - K.: “Leningrad Committee of Writers”, 1991. - 256 p. -
In the world of sports, rich in star names, there are a number of giant athletes who stand apart. Their achievements, sports, and human traits personify the era. And in this cohort, Yu.P. takes his unambiguous place. Vlasov. He has a special role in the history of sports and, without exaggeration, in world history - he expanded the ideas of earthlings about human capabilities.
Yuri Vlasov was born on December 5, 1935 in the city of Makeevka, Donetsk region (Ukraine). Father - Vlasov (Vladimirov) Pyotr Parfenovich (1905-1953), military man, diplomat, man of bright destiny. He began his working life as a mechanic's apprentice at the Voronezh Agricultural Equipment Plant. After serving in the army, he entered and graduated from the Narimanov Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies in 1938. From May 1938 to July 1940 he worked in China as a TASS correspondent. In May 1942, he was sent to Yan'an (Special Region of China) as a liaison officer for the Comintern under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee, while simultaneously performing the duties of a TASS war correspondent. Here he stayed until November 1945. In 1946, he was transferred to work at the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1948 to 1951 - Consul General of the USSR in Shanghai. Since 1952 - Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the USSR to Burma. P.P. Vlasov is buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.
Mother - Maria Danilovna, originally from Kuban, from a large Cossack family. She worked as a library manager. From an early age, she instilled in her sons, Yuri and Boris, a great love of reading and knowledge. She was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery. Wife – Vlasova Larisa Sergeevna. Daughter - Elena.
The future hero of the Roman Olympics, Yuri Vlasov, took his first and very confident steps in life in the military field. From 1946 to 1953, he studied at the Saratov Suvorov Military School, from which he graduated with honors. Here I became seriously interested in sports - I mastered many types of wrestling and boxing. I enjoyed doing athletics, throwing a sports grenade and putting a shot. He was a champion among his peers from Suvorov and Nakhimov. Surprisingly, he did not like the barbell - the sport that brought him world recognition. I read more about her in books. I idolized strong people and read Georg Hackenschmidt’s book “The Path to Strength and Health.” He loved to exercise with dumbbells and kettlebells.
After graduating from the Suvorov Military School, he entered the Air Force Academy named after N.E. Zhukovsky, where, contrary to his former logic, he became seriously interested in weightlifting. Academy named after N.E. He graduated from Zhukovsky in 1959 with honors and a gold medal.
In February 1957, under the leadership of coach Evgeniy Nikolaevich Shapovalov, he won his first victories in weightlifting and fulfilled the standard of a master of sports. The silver badge was presented to the athlete by Marshal S.M. Budyonny. In the same year, Yuri Vlasov set a number of all-Union records and became one of the best weightlifters in the country. Now Suren Petrosovich Bogdasarov becomes his mentor. For 5 years (1959-63), the athlete won all competitions - the championships of the USSR, Europe, and the world. In 1959, Yu. Vlasov was awarded the high sports title - Honored Master of Sports of the USSR.
In 1960, at the Olympics in Rome, Vlasov set 4 records in the super heavyweight division: 180 kg in the bench press and 155 kg in the snatch (Olympic), 202.5 kg in the clean and jerk and 537.5 kg in the classical triathlon total (world). Having defeated the famous American heavyweight Paul Anderson in an absentee match, he was recognized as the best athlete of the Rome Olympics and was awarded the title “The Strongest Man on the Planet.”
On the Roman platform, Vlasov accomplished an inherently unprecedented feat: he revolutionized the idea of the strongest athletes in the world in the minds of mankind. He proved by his example that a person can be both strong and highly educated, intelligent, smart. If before Vlasov’s triumph in Rome, weightlifters were often looked at as representatives of brute force with limited intelligence, then on the Roman pedestal - with the help of television and the press - the world community became acquainted with a man charming in all respects.
Best of the day
The hero turned out to be a great erudite. He could easily talk with journalists and admirers of his talent about music, sculpture, painting, the advantages and disadvantages of world literary classics, and not only in Russian, but also in French. Vlasov stated that strength, like intelligence, can develop indefinitely. Hundreds of thousands of athletes from various countries believed him.
Thanks to Vlasov, the barbell has become one of the most fashionable and most attractive sports equipment. Weightlifting has gained a “second wind” and rapidly gained high popularity on all continents. The “golden age” of not only the Russian but also the world barbell began.
At the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964, Vlasov set 2 world records: in the bench press - 197.5 kg, in the snatch - 172.5 kg, but in the triathlon total (570 kg) he took second place. After losing in Tokyo, the athlete stopped active training, but in 1966 he began training again. In 1967, the athlete pleased the fans by setting another, but, as it turned out, the last record at the Moscow championship - 199 kg in the bench press. In total, he set 31 world and 41 USSR records. Yu. Vlasov is a four-time world champion, six-time European champion. Recognized as the best athlete of the country, year, century.
In 1960, Vlasov was awarded the Order of Lenin; in 1964 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.
The idea of leaving weightlifting and seriously engaging in literary activity came to him more and more often. True, there was a debt to the barbell that made him world famous. He seemed to split into two, which negatively affected his literary hobby and weightlifting training. But the champion could no longer stay between the bar and the feather for too long, and did not want to.
Vlasov’s public statement that he was leaving the weightlifting platform forever greatly upset all his fans. The athlete was in his prime and was the first to lift a total of 600 kg, but this, alas, did not happen for known reasons.
Yu.P. Vlasov became a writer, statesman and public figure. From 1960 to 1964, Yuri Petrovich was elected as a deputy of the Moscow Council. In 1985, Yuri Vlasov was elected chairman of the USSR Weightlifting Federation. In 1988, he became chairman of the USSR Athletic Gymnastics Federation.
Since 1989, Vlasov has been a people's deputy of the USSR for the Lublin district of Moscow. On December 12, 1993, he was elected to the State Duma of the Russian Federation. Worked as a member of the Safety Committee. In 1996, Yuri Vlasov participated as a candidate in the elections of the President of Russia.
Author of popular books in Russia and abroad: “Overcome Yourself”, “Salty Joys”, “Special Region of China”; literary trilogy “Fiery Cross”, “Believe!”, “Justice of Force”, “Who Rules the Ball”, “Rus without a Leader”, “We Are and Will Be”, “Timers”.
Vlasov
Austin Powers 30.12.2007 04:46:14
Yuri Petrovich is a strong and intelligent person, it is very nice that such people still exist in the world. Now no one needs such people - they are rudiments and extinct dinosaurs. Today it is easier for scoundrels to live. But we remember you, Yuri Petrovich, we respect and love you.
anniversary
Vitaly 07.12.2015 09:13:07
Why didn’t anyone say a word about the 80th anniversary of YuP Vlasov? Even if he is seriously ill or has again displeased the authorities, one cannot simply cross out such a noble and decent person as Yuri Vlasov.
