▪️The picture was taken by me, Volkov E.▪️

My journalist`s fate led me to this leviathan, whose weight was 170 kg. I was at the Olympic base. Vasili Alekseev was at the height of his fame at that time and I didn’t know how to step to him. Also I heard about his difficult character. I was taking pictures of the weightlifter`s training, but I couldn’t decide to come to Vasili. But then I noticed that he went to the table for tennis. So I suggested him playing with me. I thought that I played not bad, but unexpectedly he beat me at that game. But I had a chance to speak to him and I suggested him taking an unusual picture to show his power. He didn’t agree at once. But I found a cane and two men. We were waiting for Vasili. Then he came out and I took a picture. And then everybody could see his power without weight!

Vasili was the fourth child in his family and he helped his parents to fell trees, to carry logs and knew what hard work was. Once he saw how his neighbour “was pressing the iron” – the arbor of the truck. Vasili tried to do it – but he couldn’t do it. It moved him and he began to train. And then he could lift it 12 times! He married when he was 20 and his wife, Olympiada, went with him to the training camps. But he couldn’t train more serious, because he should earn too. Especially his family needed money when his sons were born. He started working and their financial state improved. He met his trainer, Rudolf Pluckfelder. But after his leaving Aleksey began to train by himself and worked hard. He was crying at other trainers when he thought that he did everything wrong. At first, he was laughed at, but he had 80 world records and he was the first record breaker among other record breakers!

His own weight is 162,7 kg, but in 1970 he lifted 600 kg! From that time he was unbeatable. At Olympiad in Munich he lifted 640 kg and got Lenin`s order. Nobody beat his record of 645 kg. After that Olympics the exercise, the press, was cancelled because of its risk, but Alekseev said he could lift 700 kg too if he had a chance.

He had a lot of enviers and once at Moscow Olympics his colleague gave him some strange potion of energy and Vasili Alekseev couldn’t lift even initial weight. When he finished his career, he couldn’t find a job. And just in 1989 he became the trainer of USSR national team. In Barcelona his team won 10 medals. And Vasili Alekseev was called the legend of heavy athletics.