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Friday, February 4, 2011

Yuri Vlasov, Author?

One of my favorite blogs just published an old interview with weightlifting great Yuri Vlasov.

Apparently this superb lifter, who set twenty-eight world records and won two Olympic medals (a gold and a silver), four World and six consecutive European championships in his sport of choice, was also a distinguished and published writer. Considered a nerd due to his bespectacled appearance, Vlasov, by profession a radio engineer, went on to crush all stereotypes both about weightlifters and about men of education.

Not to be accused of slowing down, six years ago (at the age of seventy) he lifted 185 kgs in a Masters' competition. And is still writing. A true legend.

2 comments:

Lord Tezla said...

I whole heartedly belive the stereotype of men of strength being meat heads is laughable. Take George Jowett for example. The man was probably one of the smartest figures of anatomical science, and one of the strongest of the strongmen of his day.

Fatman said...

True. Unfortunately the modern men of strength have largely followed the meathead path - the need for specialization increases as competition becomes more fierce.