His powers were fully unfolding; he was lean, long-legged, narrow-waisted and darkly handsome, he was also unassailable. In July of , he lifted in Moscow. His Olympic performance was so dominant that his kilo total would have won the , and pound class gold medal at those same Olympic Games.
After shattering the kilo barrier, Vardanyan let his bodyweight drift upward. The world records he exceeded were considered unbreakable, held by Soviet superstar David Rigert. In September of , Vardanyan returned to the pound class.
He never looked better, he was mature now, but he had lost none of his trademark quickness. His techniques were textbook, his snatches appeared to levitate by magic. He posted yet another world record snatch: an incredible kilo, pound effort.
This created yet another total record, of course. Is this not the epitome of balanced lifting? For the lifting season, Yurik Vardanyan campaigned as a middle heavyweight. He dominated, naturally, posting a mind-blowing kilo pound snatch. He campaigned at pounds and set snatch and clean and jerk records that were, and remain, lightyears ahead of the rest of the world.
In September of , in Varna, Yurik Vardanyan weighing pounds snatched Three minutes later he snatched a mind-melting pounds. This is my nominee for greatest single Olympic lift of all-time. It was a big deal when in Rudolph Pluyfelder became the first light-heavyweight to clean and jerk Now, years later, Yurik snatches ?! No athlete in history either in the old pound class or the new pound class has ever matched his snatch or clean and jerk.
I am out of superlatives. A strong case could be made that Yurik Vardanyan is the greatest Olympic weightlifter of all time. To this day, his powers seem mysterious and otherworldly.
Thirty-five years after his retirement, the best lifters in the world, men far more muscled and impressive looking than Yurik, cannot match his pure excellence.
To this day he remains one of the most iconic and charismatic and mysterious lifters of all-time. Do yourself a favor and pull up Yurik Vardanyan on YouTube. Yurik died at age 63, far too young for such a talented, multifaceted man. Effortlessly snatching a world record lbs. Brice and Jim Steel Podcast. About the Author As an athlete Marty Gallagher is a national and world champion in Olympic lifting and powerlifting.
He was a world champion team coach in and coached Black's Gym to five national team titles. Seb has done a wonderful service in his well researched account of the top performers. An absolute must for all Weightlifting fans.
Chris — February 3, It inspired me to go back and watch footage of iconic competitions from decades ago to see how the narrative played out. Great photos too. Your email address will not be published. Skip to navigation Skip to content. Search for: Search. Bars Plates. Flags Posters Gift Vouchers. Liu Chunhong makes it into this list as the only woman in Olympic weightlifting to win back-to-back gold medals in the same weight category. She managed to win gold medals in the 69 Kg class in the and Olympics in Athens and Beijing respectively.
New User posted their first comment. Log in. Weight Lifting Rio Olympics Listicle. Weightlifting is a test of the raw strength and power of an athlete. Modified 07 Oct Listicle. Liu Chunhong on her way to her second Gold Medal in her home games at Beijing
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