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

Produced by French documentary makers, this segment produces an interesting portrait of Vasily Alexeev along with his legendary teammates Jaan Talts, Vasily Kolotov, Gennady Ivanchenko and more.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• weightlifting
• olympics
• legends
• history

[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]

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.

[kieser78]

his eyebrows could bench 350

[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.

[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.

[MrTrepacha]

@ext1996

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

[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.