Documentary on Vasily Alexeev (France, 1971, Part 1)

[MrCranberry777]

80 world records-81 soviet world records-gold in 72,76-8 golds in world championships-8 golds in europeam world championships-7 golds in ussr championships-2 golds in summer spartakaid-10 golds in cups of ussr.bar none the greatest lifter in history! rip my friend.you are missed.

[NicolletIslandSlim]

What a great video, particularly in light of Alexeyev's recent passing. In the film, that is 90 kg. 1970 world champ V. Kolotov pressing at about 2:50, then there is extended footage of big Vasily facing off at the chessboard against the "Iron Knight of Estonia", the great Jan Talts. Talts was also a 90 kg champ who put on a bunch of weight, to challenge the USA's rising star, Bob Bednarski. Their big showdown in Columbus in 1970 was anticlimactic, as Talts won easily over BB. VA will be missed.

[johna8119]

You may or may not remember this man. He was the incredibly charismatic Soviet weightlifter who dominated the sport in the 70s. I remember a couple of episodes about him.

[johna8119]

The first was during the 1972 or 76 Olympics. You remember the parade at the opening ceremony, when all the athletes walk in, each country as a group, led by one of their athletes who was given the honor of carrying the national flag? The flags were relatively large, and the bearer ordinarily carried it using one of those devices that is attached to a belt, and which receives the bottom of the flag pole.

[johna8119]

This thing allows the weight of the flag and pole to be supported by the hips of the bearer, who uses his hands and arms only to maintain the angle of the pole. When the CCCP delegation came marching in to the stadium, there was Alekseyev, holding the Soviet flag with his right hand, the arm outstretched, like it was one of those little flags that kids carry when watching a parade. As anti-Soviet as I was, I had to smile and say, “Wow!”

[johna8119]

The second episode I saw while watching a weightlifting competition on ABC’s Wide World of Sports. The Soviets had a policy of giving athletes a generous bonus “gift” whenever they broke a world record.

[johna8119]

So Alekseyev, wise capitalist that he was, would break his own record by only .5-1.0 kg at any given competition. I can’t remember the year, probably after the 76 Olympics, but he seemed to be nearing his own limit. During one round, he struggled and failed with the first attempt. On the second attempt, he eyed the bar at his feet and developed a look of disgust. He then bent over and yanked it off the floor and lifted it over his head, easily.

[johna8119]

He then let it drop and turned and walked to his coach, off to one side, and kissed him full on the mouth. Jim McKay, the commentator, remarked that this was somewhat unusual, but if Alekseyev were to kiss him, he wouldn’t dare complain.

Everybody who followed strength sports was saddened when he hurt himself and stopped competing. In 1980 he was a non-factor. But remembering him carrying that flag still gives me a thrill.

[winston678]

rest in peace vassili . died november 25 2011

[grostonys]

RIP champion

[kirmizigulm]

R.I.P.

[radariki]

Basil, mourn your death, you were a true hero of our time, I remember all of your competition. You will remain in history and in our memory!

[pinker087]

how much is the guy at pressing at 1:22? That looks like a ton of weight without even arching his back or using his legs!!!!!

[ext1996]

всасывайте чурки. наши тяжелоатлеты лучшие в мире

[MrTrepacha]

@ext1996

Byli, byli, dorogoy...A za tem, bolgary byli....A teper, dazhe ne znayu:)

[syphen90125]

Russian has about the best weight lifters in the world. Vasily was the best in the 70s. I started lifting because of him. My best was 465 lbs at 17 tears old .Its to bad my high school did not have a program to compete with other schools i would have very  well.

[lycanwarlord]

its amazing what the USSR discovered steroids could do.

[justaman6972]

this is pre steriod testing in the 70's ,still impressive but we can all be super strong with some testosterone!

[aviomaster]

2010 European weightlifting championship Russian Federation 12 GOLD medals ...

Number 1 ...

[ratustaupus]

j'ai un profond respect pour tous les athlètes soviétiques qui ont donné de leurs mieux sans gagner des millions par leurs sponsors et les contrats publicitaires et qui y ont souvent laissé leur santé.

[MrVladlempaleur]

@ratustaupus ouai c'est pas du sprinteur américain bling bling.j'ai un grand respect pour le bonhomme aussi.

[wilfryjules]

Je tiens à signaler qu'il n'a pas "145 kg de muscles" il a pas mal de graisse.

CE qu'il a surtout, c'est une force monstre.

Il doit avoir des vertèbres et des OS trois fois plus gros que la normale, pour avoir une telle force et surtout une telle résistance. Sinon il aurait déjà 10 hernies discales.

Arrêtez de dire des conneries. Les muscles c'est superficiel, tout le monde ne peut pas faire ça, il faut avoir une morphologie au départ.

Voila la vérité.

et bravo pour ce héro.

[kamikazeCORP]

one of the greatest lifters that ever lived if not the greatest

[skirts365]

In a different area of the sports world, Andre Roussimoff (Andre the Giant) was a big crowd draw. Yes, I would have LOVED Andre vs Alexeev as a promo match. I do believe Alexeev would have found ways to get Andre off his feet. But in hand strength I doubt Alexeev could have quite matched Andre due to the expanse of those hands. Could Andre have done Alexeev's 256 cj? No possible way in hell--too little strength relative to his own weight.

[GrassiMax]

Uno dei più grandi pesisti, vedere il video e sentire anche una fisa in sottofondo, mi lascia senza parole.

[skirts365]

Many who saw his 562 in 1976 at Montreal are convinced he could have done the Big Six.

I believe it too. But because of his snatch, he was in any case not going to have the highest all time total. A 241 pounder's best lifts added up to 460.5 vs Alexeev's 446.

Alexeev may have best training lifts giving him 465.

[remotehog1]

he also likes to play chess.

[sanfanucci]

lol weightlifting will never be my game although in impressed i think its just hard ill stick to basketball

[liftupPreview]

when you say "my game", you mean being a fan of a game or actually playing a game? overall, most weightlifting fans are lifters themselves or former lifters. on the other hand, i bet most people imagine typical lifters looking like vasily alexeev. not true.

[jimmcallister]

Unfortunately that's true. We really need more publicity to get the general population interested in weight sports. Again unfortunately, the only publicity we get is the steroid scandals! Weightlifting and Powerlifting can be exciting spectator sports with the right promotion and commentary. Darryl Eastlake and Dean Lukin made a great commentary team here in Australia. Unfortunately football rules the TV here.

[sanfanucci]

oh i meant i play basketball but im a fan of weightlifting too

[rctriplefresh5]

it sounds like hes a fan but just top pussy to man up and lift some weights.

[karbofoss]

@liftupPreview Agree. In fact only heavy lifters do look like Alexeev. They do not have upper threshold for their category, so they don't bothey how much they weigh. Those who are at lower weight categories look just fine!

[jimmcallister]

Alexeev was the Man back when I started too. He set around 60 world records over his career. I thought it was tragic the way he bombed in the Snatch at the 1980 Olympics in front of a home crowd. They booed hm off stage after 3 misses at 190. I think he's involved in coaching nowadays.

[liftupPreview]

yep... he set the most records (almost 80) and he did bomb out in 1980 at 180 kg snatch in Moscow... he coached national team USSR for its last Olympics in 1992 - no more Unified Team or Team CCCP after that. From what I know, he doesn't coach now - he's retired and somehow enjoys a status of sports celebrity. he lives in Shakhty, Russia.

[dustinkerikke]

60? he set 82 and could easliy have set a couple or more records. did guy was so strong that he made a living out of setting world records. because you get paid when you set a record in russia. so whenever they payment was high enough then he would set a record. my dad saw him once in dk, and he asked for alot of money then he would set one, but it was declined so he just screwed it up

[kieser78]

his eyebrows could bench 350

[odessafile75]

Vasily Alexeev was my earliest memory of weightlifting/weight training back in 1970. He is one of the greatest of all time

[chemochinga]

This is the cat that got me interested in weight lifting...