Heavy Men

18.12.1970 (Pionieris)

NO sport has undergone such a major "revolution" in recent years as weightlifting. It wasn't that long ago that the world's first heavyweights lifted 500 kg in the triathlon. The "five-hundred club" was founded, which included all those athletes who lifted at least 500 kg in the snatch, snatch, and clean and jerk.

Now world record holder Vasily Alekseev has already opened the “six-hundred club”. The Soviet athlete recently reached 620 kg in the triathlon in the city of Shakhty. Belgian heavyweight Reding has also entered the six-hundred, but the “five-hundred club” is now particularly wide. The lightest five-hundred in the world is Riga native Gennady Ivanchenko, and his world records have gained particular attention.

Our republic's weightlifters have achieved great success, especially the dynamic ones, who are coached by Mihails Fraifelds, who himself participated in the competition 15 years ago. In recent years, Latvian weightlifters have broken the world record 18 times: Gennady Ivanchenko and Vasily Stepanov - 6 times each, Kārlis Pumpuriņš - 5, Sergejs Poltarackis - 2 and Anatols Majasins - 1 time. 

Of the athletes of our republic, the current heaviest weight lifted is 540 kg by Artūrs Sliede - in the second heavyweight category. Only 27 years old, the senior laboratory assistant and lecturer at the Faculty of Automation Computing and Technology of the RPI. First, he started practicing shot put, but his best result was 16.66 m and he was still 34 cm short of the master of sports norm. Then Sliede energetically started training in weightlifting. And the bar was more obedient than the shot. Artūrs is a master of sports and a republican record holder. The strongman's height is 1.86 m, weight 133 kg. In height, the young man is exactly the same as the world record holder Alekseev, but only 3 kg lighter.

… In the «Dinamo» gym, weightlifters lift bars, perform many strength exercises. Men who can lift a 16 kg ball with their little finger have gathered here - Ivančenko, Sliede and even Jānis Lūsis! Coach Fraifelds carefully watches his students, corrects, reprimands. Sliede, in turn, pays more attention to his friend, Olympic champion in javelin throwing Jānis Lūsis, because both of them have competed many times in the republican national team in track and field. Our outstanding track and field athlete comes to the weightlifters once a week. He also needs strength training. And Artūrs Sliede is happy that Jānis Lūsis can lift 150 kg in the clean and jerk.

The heavy men are good-natured, but rather quiet and taciturn. Arturs Sliede did tell us a little: 

- Nine years ago I graduated from Riga Secondary School No. 2. I "won" a silver medal, because I only got two A's. I graduated from the Faculty of Automatics Computing and Technology of the RPI and stayed to work there. Now one of my students at the Institute is record holder Kārlis Pumpuriņš. If there is a will, there is also time for sports. Even for theater and poetry.

But how to become a weightlifter? Honored Coach of the USSR Mikhail Freifeld can tell you about it:

- Every boy can be strong. But the path to the weightlifting bar is quite long, because Oktoberfest and pioneers must first hone their strength with sports games and athletics. If a boy is 15 years old, we start with strength training. And then - a great love of work, strict discipline and will. As an athlete grows, the requirements grow. I will say that our masters train six times a week, every day for up to four hours.

It's clear: the road to the "five hundred club" is very "thorny".

A. SPARS