Stronger Than All The Strong

27.07.1971 (Padomju Jaunatne)

Vasily came to the bar only when all the competitors had already finished the fight. This time, this was the principled position of the world's strongest man. He declared a starting weight of 220 kg for the clean and jerk. But Stanislav Batishchev also declared to go with that weight in the third attempt. Vasily immediately raised the starting weight to 227.5 kg. When Batishchev had wrestled with the bar, which turned out to be too heavy, Alekseev broke his third world record. A new record was also set in the triathlon total - 632.5 kg. Another record immediately followed - 232.5 kg in the clean and jerk, with a triathlon total of 637.5 kg. Then another one - 235 kg in the clean and jerk and 640 kg in the triathlon.

It is customary for records to grow and constantly increase. If he had wanted to, Alekseev could probably have lifted at least 5 kg more in each exercise that very evening. It seems to him simply tired of surprising the already surprised spectators. The team had earned 60 points. Alekseev had record attempts in all exercises in reserve.

Strength triumphed. But many athletes, who are already the strongest in their republics and cities, could not even come close to Alekseev. The super-strong man from Shakhty weighed 145.1 kg that night. So that there is no impression that the main support for record-breaking achievements is a large personal weight, I will remind you that even heavier men participated in the tournament: B. Kazachans (Georgia) weighed 10 kg more, but in the triathlon he did not even reach 500 kg. Estonian M. Nude's weight was 143 kg, but they did not show how much they could push. All three attempts turned out to be unsuccessful, as did G. Ryebokonis from Belarus, who weighed 142 kg.

Our Arturs Sliede showed the fourth result in the clean and jerk (187.5 kg) behind V. Alekseev, V. Jefremov (205 kg) and S. Batishchev (202.5 kg). 15 athletes started the barbell, but after the clean and jerk only 11 of the most prudent athletes remained. In the snatch, V. Kuzmin (KPFSR) earned a silver medal — 157.5 kg. Bronze went to S. Batichev for the same result, but Sliede again took fourth place — 152.5 kg. In the clean and jerk, S. Batishchev received medals behind V. Alekseev — 212.5 kg and V. Kuzmin — 210 kg. A. Sliede pushed 205 kg. In total, the Latvian absolute record came out — 545 kg , but only fifth place. Better results were achieved by V. Alekseev, S. Batishchev, V. Yefremov and V. Kuzmin.

There is so much talk about Alekseev now that it is difficult to say where the truth ends and the legend begins. It is said that during the third hour of Vasily's training, a bayanist would usually come to the gym, who making the difficult and tiring lifting of the bar for the next two hours more emotional. The Shakhti meat factory supplies Alekseev with about 20 kg of its best products every day. It is clear that without weight and mass, one cannot lift large kilograms. At an improvised and rather chaotic press conference, Alekseev was asked what weightlifting he had done the most difficult in his life.

- Breakfast, lunch, dinner. I'm tired of eating. I have to take in the calculated amount of calories, even though I don't feel like it. But without it, there will be no weight and strength. I won't back down a single step until the Olympics. 

The KPFSR team won convincingly in weightlifting — 179 Spartakiad points, most of which were obtained as bonuses for USSR and world records. Ukraine collected 102, Moscow — 72 points. Fourth place was taken by Latvian weightlifters — 63 points. Leningrad, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Belarus were next. The performance of Latvian weightlifters should be highly appreciated. Nine men gained more than half of the points that 48 track and field athletes managed to collect. A full set of Spartakiad medals was won: Ivanchenko — gold, Anikin — silver, Poltoratski — bronze.