Russian Athlete Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Arkady Vorobyev

Posted on Thursday, July 2nd, 2015 by John Wood

Arkady Vorobyev took an interest in weightlifting while serving in the Russian Navy during WWII and it led to a hall of fame career. Vorobyev was one of the most dominant lifters of the 1950’s, taking gold in two Olympic Games (1956, Melbourne, 1960, Rome) five World Championships (1953-1955, 1957-58) and five European championships (1950, 1953-1955, 1958). Vorobyev set 16 World records over the course of his career. He went on to become a noted strength researcher and his “Textbook on Weightlifting,” written in 1978, is thought of as a modern classic in the field.

Novak’s World Record Press

Posted on Friday, May 9th, 2014 by John Wood

A look at the great soviet weightlifter Grigori Novak’s World Record standing press of 315 pounds (at 5’3″ and a bodyweight of only 181 pounds!) This would have been in 1949 in a meet in Moscow. Novak’s career was marred by an elbow injury which necessitated an operation – you can tell his left arm is a bit “off” here.

Valeriy Brumel

Posted on Friday, March 7th, 2014 by John Wood

Valeriy Brumel

Yes, that is a man jump-kicking a regulation basketball hoop, a simply unbelievable feat. In this case, that man is Valeriy Brumel, the great Soviet high jumper who is just doing a bit of showing off. Brumel won the Silver Medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics and took the Gold medal in Tokyo at the 1964 games.

Brumel broke the world record for high jump 6 times from 1961 to 1963. His personal best was 2.28 meters (about 7 feet 6 inches) In 1965 he was in a motorcycle accident which ruined his leg. After 29 operations he made a comeback in 1970 and was able to high jump 2.06 meters (about 6 feet 9 inches.) He was a true super human.