Weightlifter Yuri Vlasov. Weightlifter Yuri Vlasov: biography, family, sporting achievements, literary activity

Once upon a time, only one was compared with Yuri Vlasov - Yuri Gagarin. Until now, weightlifters of the world recognize Vlasov as an ideal. The governor of California, the famous actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, considered Yuri Petrovich his idol all his life and specially came to Russia to meet him. Nine years ago, Vlasov ran for the presidency of Russia, and then disappeared ... They even wrote that he had died.

On December 5, 2005, Yuri Vlasov very modestly celebrated his 70th birthday. But he was congratulated not only by relatives and friends, but also by the President of Russia. So, they remember him at the very top ...

Today Vlasov is still in great shape. Unless there is more gray hair. Got it out the other day A new book"Red Jacks". It is about life in the Suvorov School, about love, dreams and hopes that have come true.

“Is Vlasov alive?”

- Yuri Petrovich, where did you disappear to? Why for so long, almost 10 years, did not communicate with journalists and did not appear on the screens? After the 1996 presidential election no one saw you...

First of all, I thank the editors for the opportunity to meet with readers.

I would like to answer the question with a question: where did you disappear to? Yes, I participated in the 1996 presidential election and faced such lies and slander... I was repeatedly invited to the President Hotel, where Yeltsin's elective headquarters was. I could make a choice. Or play by their rules, and then I was offered a game, money, a high rating, wide access to the media. Or a complete blockade in the press, zero percent in all elections, a very difficult future. And I made this choice... Then, two weeks before the vote, a "Special Issue" with an obituary that I had died was launched around the country... Now it's 2005. On book fair a woman approached the director of the publishing house that had just released my book “Red Jacks” and asked: “Is Vlasov alive?”

Why don't you write a book about it?

Because it won't change anything. I wanted to write several other works, the time has come when it can no longer be delayed.

- But your old friend Arnold Schwarzenegger made a career for himself - he became the governor of California. Has he changed since he entered politics?

Best of the day

You know, they don't "leave" politics. If a person has earned respect throughout his life and is very popular, this is politics. Has he changed? I can't judge it.

- After leaving the sport, many athletes disappear. Is there anything else to do besides coaching?

I have always thought about the essence of sport: does the country need people who can only run or just jump? Does sport exclude life itself, love, knowledge, creativity? You are right, I knew many great athletes who then became drunkards and even committed suicide. Here everything depends on the person, on his will and fortitude, on his faith in life itself, on his ability to suppress pride. It is not simple. But one should not dwell on the narrowness of victories, no matter how flattering they may be. Marina Tsvetaeva remarked perfectly: there are people with a thirst for employment - they are always looking for something to do. And there are with the gift of employment - they are always busy.

Race for a long ruble

- Yuri Petrovich, modern sports everything is built on the pursuit of big money. In your youth, sport was part of the ideology of the USSR. What is the point of sport anyway?

Why do you think climbers conquer peaks? Suffocate, die? Why go to the North Pole? Why does Konyukhov plow the ocean on a yacht? Are they all looking for money? Anyone who bargains for fees very quickly ceases to be an athlete. Anyone who wants to be strong, brave - he becomes it. A real man cannot avoid sports. And if he loves a woman, he must be healthy, strong, generous. When I started training, I had no idea that you could earn money from sports. Love for the Motherland was the leading principle.

- Do you play sports now?

Yes, I train professionally 2-3 times a week. This is one of the very few activities that I digress from literature and military history. But I love sports wholeheartedly, without it I would not be, not only in the physical sense, but also in the spiritual.

- What is your record now?

A year ago I wanted to lift 200 kg, but stopped at 185 - it became scary for the vessels. I don’t need to imitate, because I have been playing iron games all my life, and the loads for 70 years are very decent. But I wish everyone to find their own form of employment. As long as a person is alive, nothing is too late. Sport gives a feeling of youth.

- How is your health?

Thank God it's normal. Everything evolved differently in different years. It’s impossible to say that it has always been brilliant, I underwent three terrible operations: a swelling on my arm from a barbell strike and two operations on my spine, when my relatives were already warned that I was unlikely to survive. But my sport was not amateur, it was not fun, it was a duel with death. After the operation, I did not die only thanks to sports, I was very strong in spirit, sports brought up the will. I was able to get up and returned to the iron again. With a few gaps due to surgeries, I have been training since I was 14 years old. And now I'm 70. But sport has never been the goal and the only meaning. He has always been that help, those crutches that led me to solve other, more important, in my opinion, tasks.

I told myself to lose weight

- How do you keep fit?

Firstly, it is important to have a worthy goal in life, and a sick person cannot achieve it. There must be a desire to become healthy and strong.

Second, never excess weight and always moving. Here is a great example - Amosov, Mikulin, Bragg. I, for example, myself lost 11 kg in a year. Gradually. Weight crawled to 120 kg, this is both a lot and life-threatening. I ordered myself to go to 109.

Thirdly, move away from the chemicalization of life. "... And the Lord said: I have given you every herb and every tree." On the advice of Amosov, I do not part with a plant antioxidant.

I'm not chasing longevity and I don't want to achieve it at any cost, no, but the movement itself, the feeling of youth and health give me joy. And if a person is healthy, he can do a lot, he can help the weak. And this is the need of any normal person. A healthy man and one warrior in the field.

Anabolics cripple athletes

- Recently, the bar was proposed to be excluded from Olympic sports sports. What do you think?

I was president of the Weightlifting Federation in the late 90s. I was amazed at how much athletes chemicalized themselves with anabolics, now growth hormones have been added. Is this a fair sport? No. Is such a sport necessary if it cripples the youth and renders them barren? No. I fought against anabolics, but now anabolics, pardon the expression, are business. My opinion: either remove anabolics from the bar, or remove the bar as a sport.

- Yuri Petrovich, how do you assess the state of the sport? Why do we lose almost everywhere?

What a country, such a sport. The country fell in spirit, fell in body, fell in deed. Here is the result. But to add nothing to this would be unfair. Lately, things have started to change. The sport itself is quite rightly becoming a state affair. The West beats us on the hands in everything, but it is impossible to dissuade a real athlete (even for money!) to win for Russia. I know how difficult it is to win for Borzakovsky, Pechenkina, Isinbayeva, but they win. It is very clear to me how Shamil Tarpishchev is sick of his soul for his winners, how he leads them to victories. It's hard, it comes at the cost of life. Perhaps sport is the first step towards revival?

The main thing is not to destroy Russia

- How do you assess the situation in Russia?

Over the course of many decades, I have seen how our political life has evolved. Because of my high-profile victories I became popular all over the world very early. I was included in government delegations: either we flew to Fidel Castro, then to de Gaulle ... Khrushchev loved me, he often invited me to the Kremlin. I wrote the book "Special Region of China" for 7 years and personally discussed a lot with Andropov (Vlasov's father was a resident in China, and the Central Committee entrusted work on the book to the intelligence officer's son. - Note ed.). I was invited by Brezhnev to work for him as a referent for China, which I refused.

I have seen a lot, and therefore I can say with confidence that politics has never been influenced by money in the way that it is today. And this is the worst.

At Svyatoslav Fedorov's dacha - he was an original and talented person - I was struck by the remark of a Western economist. He told me: “If our candidate fails somewhere, we throw 5 million there. If it’s not enough, we throw another 10 million. And he passes. And you know, Yuri Petrovich, I’m scared that terrible people can be brought into politics for money, and I’m scared what could be in the world!”

We do not have a political situation at all, we have political reshuffles.

What do you think is the future of our country?

Our?! The well-being of Russia is cursed by all her enemies. Our Motherland was different... She was loved. And now it's being sold. I asked this question to Vladyka Pitirim, he told me this: “As soon as the officials re-register arable land as property, then it will be re-registered as property or leased to foreigners. And that's it. They will have every right to demand the deployment of NATO troops to protect their private property.” United and indivisible Russia. This is the most important thing now. But one with whom? With its people or united with America and Europe? It is important that Russia remains our land, our Motherland. If this fails, then I see the most difficult trials by 2012-2015, and not only in our country, but also in the world. And no one will help.

BY THE WAY

At the age of 13 in Vienna, a young thin boy Arnold Schwarzenegger was introduced to Vlasov. When asked how to become as strong as he was, the weightlifter replied: “Genetically, you are unlikely to pull the barbell, go in for bodybuilding.” Schwarzenegger followed the advice of Yuri Petrovich and became known to the whole world.

Biography

Sports career

Triumphal years 1959-1963

1964 Games

Leaving big sport

Literary activity

Political activity

Sports achivments

World records

(December 5, 1935, Makeevka) - Soviet weightlifter, Russian writer, Russian politician.

Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1959). Played for Moscow - CSKA. Coaches: Evgeny Nikolaevich Shapovalov, since 1957 - Suren Petrosovich Bagdasarov.

Appeared in heavyweight.

Olympic champion(1960), silver medalist of the Games (1964).
4-time world champion (1959, 1961-1963).
6-time European champion (1959-1964; in non-Olympic years, championships were held as part of the world championships).
5-time champion of the USSR (1959-1963).
Set 31 world records and 41 USSR records (1957-1967).

Standard-bearer of the USSR delegation at the opening of the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics.

Since 1959, he has been engaged in literary, and from the mid-1980s to 1996, in social and political activities. He headed the Federation of Weightlifting and Athletic Gymnastics of the USSR. People's Deputy of the USSR (1989-1991), Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation (1993-1995).

Biography

Father - Pyotr Parfyonovich Vlasov (Vladimirov) (1905-1953) - intelligence officer, journalist and diplomat, specialist in China. Mother - Maria Danilovna - was born in Kuban, head of the library (died in 1987).

Graduated with honors from the Saratov Suvorov military school(1953) and the N. E. Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy in Moscow (1959). After graduating from the academy, he received the rank of senior lieutenant (specialty - aviation radio communications engineer).

In 1960-1968 he was a sports inspector at CSKA. In May 1968, he filed a report on his transfer to the reserve; retired with the rank of captain.

Sports career

In the spring of 1957, Vlasov for the first time became the USSR record holder in the snatch (144.5 kg) and clean and jerk (183.0 kg); less than a month later, Alexei Medvedev regained his records. Vlasov achieved his first success in 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 competition until the 1964 Olympics.

Triumphal years 1959-1963

At the Olympic Games in Rome, September 10, 1960, Vlasov squeezed 180 kg (the same as James Bradford of the USA, who eventually became the silver medalist), snatched 155 kg (5 kg ahead of the closest pursuers) and pushed 202.5 kg, which gave a total of 537.5 kg (Bradford lagged behind in the clean and jerk by 20 kg, and in total by 25 kg).

Vlasov started the push when all the competitors had already finished the competition. The first attempt - 185 kg, the Olympic "gold" and the world record in triathlon - 520 kg (the former belonged to the American Paul Anderson since 1955. The second attempt - 195 kg - and the world record in triathlon becomes already 530 kg. The third attempt - 202.5 kg (world record); the final result in triathlon - 537.5 kg - was 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 in the international arena were US athletes, primarily Norbert Shemansky. Shemansky, despite his age - he was born in 1924 - twice (1961, 1962) took world records from Vlasov in the snatch and twice (1962, 1963) became second at the world championships. The rivalry was especially tenacious at the 1962 World Championships, when Szemansky lost only 2.5 kg, winning the bench press and the snatch.

1964 Games

On Olympic Games In 1964, Vlasov arrived 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 returned the records). Zhabotinsky had a greater dead weight (154.4 kg versus 136.4 kg), so in the event of equal results, Vlasov received the advantage.

The bench press was won by Vlasov with a world record - 197.5 kg, Zhabotinsky lagged behind by 10 kg. 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 to the fourth, additional (not counting triathlon) approach, in which he set a world record - 172.5 kg.

In the first clean and jerk attempt, Zhabotinsky took 200 kg. “With all my appearance, I demonstrated that I was refusing to fight for“ gold ”and even lowered starting weight Vlasov, feeling like the master of the platform, rushed to conquer records and ... cut himself off. ”, - this is how Zhabotinsky later commented on the course of the struggle. Vlasov pushed 205 kg, and then - 210 kg. After that, the weight of the bar was set above the world record - 217.5 kg. Zhabotinsky's second attempt was unsuccessful (later, many believed that Zhabotinsky did not take weight on purpose), Vlasov's third attempt was also unsuccessful, and Zhabotinsky pushed the barbell in his third attempt and became the Olympic champion.

As one of the Japanese newspapers wrote, "two of the strongest men in Russia - Nikita Khrushchev and Yuri Vlasov - fell almost on the same day" (heavyweight competitions took place on October 18, 4 days after Khrushchev was removed).

Retirement from big sport

As Vlasov himself recalled, immediately after the Tokyo Games, he abandoned active training. However, due to financial problems in the fall of 1966, he resumed training. 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 sport.

Literary activity

Since 1959, Vlasov has been publishing essays and stories, and two years later he won the second prize in the competition for the best sports story in 1961 (organized by the editors of the Soviet Sport newspaper and the Moscow branch of the Writers' Union; the first prize was not awarded). Vlasov went to the 1962 European Championship 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 (even before the defeat at the Tokyo Games).

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.

The book “A Special Region of China. 1942-1945 ”(1973), which Yuri Vlasov published under the pseudonym of his father (Vladimirov). The book was the result of a 7-year (as Vlasov later recalled) work in the archives, interviews of eyewitnesses, it used the diaries of P. P. Vlasov.

This was followed by a long break, during which Yuri Vlasov wrote mostly "on the table." In 1984, the book "The Justice of Force" was published, and in 1989 its new, revised edition was published (the years of writing are indicated in the book: 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 at the same time he began to collect materials. Since 1978, Vlasov has undergone several operations on the spine; after the operation in 1983, when he was on the verge of life and death, he set about creating a coherent text. In 1991-1992, a 2-volume edition was published, which did not include about a third of the material written; in 1993 a 3-volume edition was published. In this trilogy, Vlasov draws a conclusion about the identity between Leninism and fascism and contrasts Bolshevism with Christian morality.

In the 1990s, Vlasov wrote many journalistic articles, which were then published in separate collections.

Public activity in sports

1985-1987 - President of the USSR Weightlifting Federation.
1987-1988 - President of the Athletic Gymnastics Federation of the USSR.

After the USSR State Sports Committee recognized athletic gymnastics (bodybuilding) as a sport in April 1987, a federation was formed, the first president of which was Vlasov.

Political activity

1989-1991 - People's Deputy of the USSR. He was elected in a repeat election by the constituency. 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 delivered a speech in which he sharply criticized the CPSU and the KGB. In the autumn of 1989 he left the CPSU.

1993-1995 - Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. The list of the Russian Christian Democratic Movement (leader - Viktor Aksyuchits), in which Vlasov was No. 3, did not score required amount signatures for registration. He won as an independent candidate in the district, gaining 24.54% of the vote and ahead of Konstantin Borovoy.

Worked on the Security Committee. Member of the parliamentary group Russian way(released in June 1994). In February 1994, he ran for the post of Chairman of the State Duma.

In the 1995 State Duma elections, having gained about 12% of the vote, he lost to Konstantin Borovoy; was also included in the list of the Power to the People bloc, which did not overcome the 5% threshold.
In 1996 he ran for the post of President of the Russian Federation. The election program declared: "There is only one single force that can unite almost everyone and at the same time become the ideological basis of the Russian state - people's patriotism." According to the results of the first round of elections, Vlasov won 0.20% of the vote, after which he retired from public and political activities.

Sports achivments

Official competitions
	Competition	Location	Result	Amount, kg	Press + snatch + jerk	Own weight, kg
International competitions
					160 + 147,5 + 192,5

					180 + 155 + 202,5

		Budapest			177,5 + 155 + 207,5
		Stockholm			187,5 + 160 + 210
					190 + 165 + 207,5
					197,5 + 162,5 + 210
USSR Championship

	II Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR
		Leningrad
		Dnepropetrovsk
					187,5 + 150 + 185
	III Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR	Leningrad

World records

Until 1962, a paragraph of the rules was in force, according to which, when establishing at one competition in one exercise

several world records, only best result.


Triathlon
	180 + 155 + 202,5		Olympic Games
		Dnepropetrovsk	USSR Championship
	187,5 + 160 + 205	Stockholm	World Championship
	187,5 + 160 + 210
	190 + 165 + 207,5		Europe championship
		Podolsk

Individual exercises

	Leningrad
		World Championship
	Leningrad	USSR Championship
	Dnepropetrovsk	USSR Championship

	Podolsk
		Olympic Games

	Leningrad
		Olympic Games
	Kislovodsk

	Schwechat (Austria)
	Dnepropetrovsk	USSR Championship
	Oulu (Finland)
	Stockholm	World Championship
	Podolsk


		USSR Championship

	Podolsk
	Podolsk
		Olympic Games

Books

Awards

Order of Lenin (1960)
Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1969)
Order of the Badge of Honor (1965)

The biography of weightlifter Yuri Vlasov impresses with its incredible achievements and victories, ups and downs, sharp turns and turns. With his life, he proved that he really is the most powerful person in the world, not only physically, but also morally.

Who is Yuri Petrovich Vlasov? How did he achieve his records and what was behind his fantastic triumph? What is the former weightlifter Yuri Vlasov doing now, whose biography is of interest to many of his fans? Let's find out.

Son of his father

Yura was born at the very beginning of the winter of 1935 in the small town of Makeevka, located in the Donetsk region.

The boy's parents were intelligent and educated people who instilled in their children a love for their native country and compatriots, for knowledge and for reading, for sports and for a healthy lifestyle. And this is not surprising, since Yuri Vlasov's mother worked as a librarian, and his father ... father was an ideal and a real example for a growing son.

When the boy was barely a year old, Pyotr Parfyonovich Vlasov began working in the Intelligence Directorate and was sent to China as a correspondent from TASS, and then acted as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Burma (now Myanmar). He even went undercover for a while.

A worthy example of his father did not go unnoticed. Young Yuri wanted to follow in his footsteps and entered a military school located in the city of Saratov.

Sport life

Young Vlasov decided to choose a military career sincerely and with all his heart. He was not satisfied with a calm measured life. He longed for exploits, adventures, heroic deeds and recognition.

Therefore, already from school years, Yuri Vlasov was seriously engaged in himself and his upbringing: he trained for a long time, led healthy lifestyle life, read a lot.

Already from the age of fourteen, the boy took leading places in various city competitions, competing on equal terms with adult men.

And he really was a champion. Possessing a strong, trained body, young Vlasov weighed ninety kilograms and enthusiastically engaged in many sports: skiing, wrestling, weightlifting and athletics.

However, the young man connected his life not with sports activities, but from the military.

Therefore, having received a secondary military education, Yuri Vlasov entered the Air Force Academy.

Carier start

It is in a higher educational institution that the future famous weightlifter is fond of weightlifting. He trains a lot, intensively training for six hours a day. But you still had to study at the academy, pass exams, live ...

But the young man understands that he is in love with sports and from now on devotes his free time only to him.

Success comes by itself - at the age of twenty-two, a novice athlete becomes the champion of the Soviet Union, surpassing the achievements of an experienced weightlifter Alexei Medvedev. His winning figures: snatch - one hundred and forty-four and a half kilograms, push - one hundred and eighty-three kilograms.

Since that triumphant moment, the biography of weightlifter Yuri Vlasov has changed dramatically - he becomes a master of sports of the USSR, and two years later he takes first place in the Soviet championship.

Around this time, the young man graduated from a military university, having received the specialty of an air radio communications engineer and the rank of senior lieutenant. Thanks to this, he can train in the Central sports club Army, located in the statement of the Ministry of Defense.

World fame

Thanks to the victory at the USSR Championship, where the young military man broke the world record by showing best achievement in the clean and jerk - one hundred and ninety-seven and a half kilograms, the Soviet weightlifter Yuri Vlasov was admitted to the World Championships held in Warsaw. There he took first place. Ahead of a talented athlete expected the Olympics.

His achievements were truly amazing. And this despite the fact that a year earlier on one of sports Yuri received a serious spinal injury. If not for his willpower and courage, if not for the support of a loving wife and caring coaches, Vlasov would not have been able to overcome that terrible milestone and would not have achieved a worldwide triumph.

Victory at the Olympics

Rome, 1960 Olympic Games. An avid struggle between the three most powerful men on the planet: Americans Norbert Szemansky and Jim Bradford and Soviet athlete Yuri Vlasov... Who will win? Who will take the long-awaited gold?

The competition was serious and principled, weightlifters fought, sparing neither strength nor health. For five whole hours, an incredible confrontation continued, forcing the audience to sit with bated breath and afraid to move.

The first to drop out of the race was multiple world champion Norb Szemansky. A tough duel began between Vlasov and Bradford.

In the bench press, they showed almost the same results, and in the snatch, the Russian was ahead of the American by only five kilograms. What will be the decisive impetus?

Bradford lifted an incredible weight - one hundred eighty-two and a half kilograms, thereby setting a new world record. He couldn't lift any more.

Now it's Vlasov's turn to show his skills. Russian athlete he easily took the barbell with the cherished 185 kilograms, thereby winning gold at the Olympics and setting a new world record in triathlon. Will he stop there?

Yuri has two more approaches, during which he shows the best result - two hundred and two and a half kilograms on the bar and five hundred thirty-seven and a half kilograms in triathlon! Soviet weightlifter Yuri Vlasov becomes world champion and new record holder.

Second Olympics

After Rome, an athlete from the USSR continually won the championship in various competitions. Six times in a row he became European champion, exceeding his own records. His new figure in triathlon has increased to an incredible five hundred and eighty kilograms!

Therefore, Yuri Petrovich went to the Olympics in Tokyo as a notorious favorite. He didn't turn special attention on his compatriot Leonid Zhabotinsky, and he, in turn, showed with all his appearance that he did not strive for gold and was content with silver. However, this was not the case.

Is it really all the fault of intrigue and pretense, or did Vlasov just relax and focus on records, and not on competitions, who knows ... But the result of that Olympiad is well known to us - Zhabotinsky took first place, ahead of the former winner by only two and a half kilograms!

After Tokyo, the biography of weightlifter Yuri Vlasov changed dramatically - he decided to leave the big sport.

Life after records

What influenced the end of Yuri Vlasov's sports career? Perhaps the fault was his resentment towards rivals. Or poor health - old injuries affected. They say that the weightlifter underwent several operations and underwent a long rehabilitation. Be that as it may, in weightlifting the athlete returned two years later, set a new world record, received a reward for it and again left the stage. Forever this time.

Leaving the sport was closely associated with leaving the army, which Vlasov left with the rank of captain.

New calling

Since 1959, a talented athlete began to publish his stories and essays, imbued with subtle psychology and extraordinary vitality. Already in those years, the literary activity of Yuri Vlasov was judged on merit. For example, for his short work on sports topics, a young man received an honorary award.

After some time, Yuri Petrovich worked as a special correspondent for the socio-political newspaper Izvestia, and immediately after his defeat at the Tokyo Olympics, he published the first book, Overcoming Yourself.

After leaving the big sport, the weightlifter chose another specialty for himself - literary. Books by Yuri Vlasov began to be published one after another, attracting more and more public attention.

These were biographical and political works, philosophical, psychological and historical works.

Among the most fascinating books by Yuri Vlasov, one should pay attention to “A Special Region of China. 1942-1945". This essay, written in the form of a diary, describes the political and espionage intrigues of Communist China. The author himself has repeatedly stated that he took the materials for the novel in the archives and from the diaries of his father, a personnel intelligence officer. I discussed some points personally with General Secretary Andropov.

Now it is difficult to determine what is true in the book and what is fiction, added for ideological or political reasons. And yet, despite some liberties, this work is an unprecedented opportunity for the Soviet reader to get acquainted with the mysterious state archives.

Another interesting literary project is the books of Yuri Vlasov, collected in a trilogy under the intriguing title "Fiery Cross", in which the writer comprehends the birth of Bolshevism from a new perspective and reveals to readers the evil that the October Revolution brought.

At the age of fifty, the former weightlifter had a significant meeting with his admirer, Arnold Schwarzenegger. As Iron Arnie admits, Vlasov became his ideal back in 1964, when he watched the Olympic duel of two Soviet weightlifters.

At the meeting, the strongmen measured their strength and exchanged positive feedback about each other.

Political activity

In accordance with the new vocation, Yuri Petrovich Vlasov for some time was closely interested in politics and even held certain government positions.

Two years before 1991, the former weightlifter served as a People's Deputy of the USSR, and since 1993 he was a State Duma deputy for several years and even worked in the Security Committee.

At the age of sixty, Vlasov ran for President Russian Federation, but did not even get half a percent of the votes.

Since then the most strong man devoted himself entirely to literary activity.

Family of Yuri Vlasov

In early youth, a talented weightlifter married a student art school and happily lived with her in marriage for many years. After the death of his wife, he married a second time. Has an adult daughter.

Despite his retirement from sports, Vlasov continues to train intensively four times a week. Thanks to this, at the age of seventy-five, he was able to squeeze one hundred and eighty-five kilograms with his own weight of one hundred and ten kilograms!

In 1967, when Yuri returned to big sport 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, of course, the word "hipster" was not known, but by today's standards, the stylish frame of Yury Petrovich's unchanged glasses is quite in the current trend. Too bad he doesn't wear them now.

Vlasov was born on December 5, 1935 in an intelligent family: his father is a diplomat, intelligence officer, colonel of the GRU and a specialist in China, his mother is the head of the library. About the fate of Vlasov during the war years, practically nothing is said in the sources, so we will immediately proceed to his long journey.

As a boy, while studying at the Suvorov Military School, Yuri was struck to the very heart by the book “The Path to Strength and Health” by Georg Gakkenshmidt, published in 1911, still with the signs “yat” (by the way, you can download it), and he knew for sure that his path was a foregone conclusion . At the age of 14, he had already begun his brilliant sports career.

By the way, his fate was repeated at the time by the famous Arnold Schwarzenegger, for whom Vlasov was the main idol. Arnold also early firmly believed in his path as a bodybuilder and at the same age began to show sports success. Once, at a competition, during a break between approaches, a 15-year-old guy Arnold was brought to Vlasov. “I don’t remember what I said to him then. I was excited and kept repeating only - do not quit sports! Love sports! Everything will be great. I myself have gone through such trials. He left with tears in his eyes."

Meeting Vlasov and Schwarzenegger many years later

Another quality that Arnold spied on Vlasov was psychological pressure on an opponent. He showed his opponents even before entering the platform that the winner is known and it is useless to resist. In sports, where a lot depends on the mood, it worked flawlessly.

Well, and, of course, work - hard, stubborn, measured. Vlasov trained daily from 10 am to 4 pm. “My hair burned with sweat, I shaved it off,” recalls Vlasov, “from 19 to 33 years old, I saw nothing but one hard work.”

Yuri Vlasov is fighting for records

At the age of 21 in 1957, Yuri for the first time 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 years”.

In 1959 he won the World Championship in Warsaw.

And the following year, at the Olympics in Rome, Yuri triumphed - that Olympics was called the “Vlasov Olympics”. On the platform for the last exercise (push) Vlasov came out 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 the Olympic "gold" and the world record in triathlon - 520 kg. The second attempt - 195 kg - and the world record in triathlon becomes 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 rival lagged behind Yuri by 25 kilograms.

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 many thousands tore off their seats, everything turned upside down, they broke onto the stage, took me in their arms. I was beaten off by the police. When I later crossed the street in Rome, the police blocked the road for me alone - in any inappropriate places, ”Vlasov rejoices. Then the athletes were fantastic legends.

For the next 2 years, Vlasov's main rival was another American, Norbert Shemansky. Despite the fact that he was 11 years older than the Soviet weightlifter, he twice (in 1961 and 1962) temporarily took world records from Vlasov in the snatch and twice (1962 and 1963) became second after him at the world championships.

At the next Olympics in Tokyo in 1964, Vlasov came as the main favorite. He was idolized not only in the USSR. His glasses, which he did not take off during the approaches, drew the attention of journalists to other aspects of his personality. “... He combined all the qualities that can be required from an athlete. Strength, harmony, form and at the same time friendliness and mind. This engineer, who speaks several languages, is an example of a perfect person, ”the Swedish journalist Thorsten Tanger wrote about Vlasov.

However, they failed to win in Tokyo. Vlasov's opponent was teammate Leonid Zhabotinsky. A few months before the Olympics, Zhabotinsky set world records in the snatch, clean and jerk and total, but by the start of the Games, Vlasov managed to return these records. A battle of Soviet weightlifters was planned. The first exercise (bench press) is won by Vlasov with a world record of 197.5 kg, the opponent on the team 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 incited Yuri, and he does the unbelievable - he goes to 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 refusing to fight for gold and even reduced the initial 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 that, 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 he eventually overtook the invincible Vlasov by 2.5 kg. Vlasov later recalled: “I had to push 212.5 kg, then Zhabotinsky would have to push 222.5 and he would not be 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 Zhabotinsky a rival. Why didn't you consider it? By his behavior backstage. And that was my biggest mistake.”

If you are interested in understanding this dramatic story, watch the program dedicated to this struggle:

After this Olympics, Vlasov refused to train and decided to leave the big sport. 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 the removal of Khrushchev.

Vlasov himself said: “I left young. I could still perform for 5 years and could win. I used to wake up at night, I was still strong, and the voice says - “Come back! Come back! You will still have all the victories. In 2-3 years it will be too late.” So until the morning and lay with these thoughts. It's not like playing chess or bridge at the World Championships - 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 the sport. 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 1989-91 he was a People's Deputy of the USSR, in the autumn 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% then voted for Vlasov. But in 1995, Borovoy took revenge and defeated Yuri Petrovich in the elections.

Vlasov's last political step - in 1996, he ran for the post of President of Russia when Yeltsin was elected. Then he won 0.2% of the vote.

Unlike Vlasov, Schwarzenegger, who completely copied the fate of his hero, nevertheless succeeded in going into politics

“Even under socialism, even under capitalism, sycophants live well. You don’t have a backbone, you’re ready to crawl and lick - and in any system you will be very right person. You will do good career. You have a core, your own principles - in any system you will be erased and crushed, such people are not needed. I had a rod, but it took superhuman strength Vital energy. The fact that I managed to survive - God forbid another survive this. And the hardest operations, and lack of money, and not a single step in literature, and a deaf blockade - that only they didn’t do to me, ”recalls Yuri Vlasov. “I did it for the country, for the people. It may sound immodest, but it was the only thing that gave meaning to my life.”

Yuri Vlasov - writer

Not finished yet sports career, Vlasov began to write. In the year of the Olympics-64 in Tokyo, his book “Overcome Yourself” was published, highly appreciated by his friend and writer Lev Kassil. Then, according to the memoirs of his father, “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 should have gotten back 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 hanger-on from sports, ”recalls Vlasov. Literature is now the main business of his life - Vlasov continues to publish books. Two years ago, Yuri Petrovich's two-volume "Great Redistribution" 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 “The Justice of Power” (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 documentary about him.