Leonid Ivanovich Schabotinsky

Leonid Zhabotinsky ( Russian Леонид Иванович Жаботинский ., Scientific transliteration Leonid Ivanovich Žabotinskij * 28. January 1938 in Uspenka , Rajon Krasnopillja , Ukrainian SSR , Soviet Union ; † 14. January 2016 in Zaporozhye , Ukraine ) was a Soviet weightlifter .

Career

Shabotinsky was born in Uspenka into a Ukrainian Cossack family. In his childhood the family moved to Kharkov , where Shabotinsky experienced the German occupation in World War II .

Shabotinsky grew up in Zaporozhye , played volleyball and basketball at high school and also did athletics. In his youth, Shabotinsky was a successful shot putter who made it to the championship of the Ukrainian SSR. After the eighth grade, he dropped out of school and learned the trade of a locksmith at the Kharkov tractor factory . As he got bigger and heavier as he got older, he decided to start lifting weights at the age of 19 .

Shabotinsky was then drafted into the Soviet Army . He stayed in the military, had good training conditions and a trainer there, and became an officer. He made up for his school leaving certificate in evening school and in later years achieved a doctorate in education. In 1957 Shabotinsky won a bronze medal at the state championship of the Ukrainian SSR. In the same year he reached 435 kg in the Olympic three-way fight , increased to 460 kg in 1958 and reached the 500 kg limit for the first time in 1961. In 1963 he reached the first of his 19 world records in heavyweight lifting. Schabotinski was first used in 1963 at the World Heavyweight Championships in Stockholm . There he won the bronze medal behind Yuri Vlasov and Norbert Schemansky .

At the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964 , he beat Vlasov and Schemansky and became Olympic champion with 572.5 kg . Until 1968 he dominated the international heavyweight lifting scene. He attracted particular attention at the 1968 Summer Olympics as the flag bearer of the Soviet teams. While other athletes held the approximately 20 kg flag and baton with both hands or with the support of a carrying device during the opening ceremony, Schabotinsky happily waved it back and forth in one hand during the celebration.

In 1969 an operation forced him to take a longer break. During this time, the younger Vasily Alexejew became the dominant figure in weightlifting. After his return to competitive sport in 1973/74, Schabotinski, now a captain, resisted vehemently and even set new world records during these years. He reached his last world record in 1974. In the competition he could no longer beat Alexejew. He then finally resigned from weightlifting and worked as a volunteer trainer and functionary.

After the end of his active career, Shabotinsky was responsible for the Soviet military as a weightlifting coach. In 1991 he left the army.

Shabotinski's death on January 14, 2016 was announced by his son. He left a wife and two sons, both active weightlifters. He did not go into the causes of death.

reception

Schabotinsky became known to wider circles because Arnold Schwarzenegger saw him as an idol and role model and made this public. As a teenager, Schwarzenegger had a picture of the weightlifter above his bed and later referred to it as inspiration.

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, EM = World Championship, S = Heavyweight, competitions up to 1972 in the Olympic three-way fight, consisting of pushing, tearing and pushing, from 1973 onwards in a duel consisting of tearing and pushing)

• 1960, 3rd place , Grand Prix of Moscow , S, with 450 kg, behind Alexei Medvedev , 480 kg and Iwan Wesselinow, Bulgaria , 455 kg;
• 1963, 1st place , Grand Prix of Moscow, S, with 520 kg, ahead of Norbert Schemansky , USA , 500 kg and Károly Ecser , Hungary , 490 kg;
• 1964, 1st place , Grand Prix of Moscow, S, with 560 kg, ahead of Polyakow, USSR, 500 kg;
• 1964, gold medal , OS in Tokyo, S, with 572.5 kg, in front of Vlasov, 570 kg, Schemansky, 537.5 kg and Gary Gubner , USA, 512.5 kg;
• 1965, 1st place , World Championships in Tehran , S, with 552.5 kg, ahead of Gubner, 545 kg and Ecser, 522.5 kg;
• 1966, 1st place , Grand Prix of Riga , S, with 545 kg, ahead of Stanislaw Batishchev , 527.5 kg and Serge Reding , Belgium , 512.5 kg;
• 1966, 1st place , WM + EM in Berlin , S, with 567.5 kg, ahead of Bob Bednarski , USA, 537.5 kg and Batishchev, 530 kg;
• 1968, 1st place , EM in Leningrad , S, with 570 kg, ahead of Reding, 527.5 kg and Manfred Rieger , GDR , 525 kg;
• 1968, gold medal , OS in Mexico City , S, at 572.5 kg, ahead of Reding, 555 kg and Joe Dube , USA, 555 kg;
• 1969, unplaced, World Cup in Sofia , S, after giving up due to Injury, winner Dube, with 577.5 kg, ahead of Reding, 570 kg and Batishchev, 570 kg;
• 1973, 1st place , Spartakiade of the social armies in Trenčín , S, with 392.5 kg, ahead of Tramburadziew, Bulgaria, 375 kg and Strejczek, Czechoslovakia , 362.5 kg.

USSR championships

• 1960, 5th place, S, with 455 kg, behind Vlasow, 510 kg and Medvedev, 480 kg;
• 1961, 2nd place, S, with 500 kg, behind Vlasow, 550 kg and in front of Vilkovic, 485 kg;
• 1962, 2nd place, S, with 512.5 kg, behind Vlasow, 522.5 kg and in front of Vilkovic, 475 kg;
• 1963, 2nd place, S, with 530 kg, behind Vlasow, 550 kg;
• 1965, 1st place, S, with 540 kg, ahead of Andrejew, 525 kg and Batischew, 510 kg;
• 1967, 1st place, S, with 585 kg;
• 1968, 1st place, S, with 585 kg, in front of Batischew, 555 kg and Alexejew, 540 kg;
• 1969, 1st place, S, with 572.5 kg, ahead of Batischew, 552.5 kg and Ryabokon, 542.5 kg.

World records

(all placed in the heavyweight division)

when pressing with both arms:

• 201.5 kg, 1967 in Sofia .

in two-armed tearing:

• 165 kg, 1963 in Moscow,
• 167.5 kg, 1963 in Stockholm ,
• 173 kg, 1965 in Tehran ,
• 173.5 kg, born in Cairo in 1966 ,
• 174 kg, 1967 in Sofia.
• 175.5 kg, 1967 in Moscow,
• 176 kg, 1968 in Leningrad ,
• 183.5 kg, 1973 in Tuapse ,
• 185.5 kg, 1974 in Moscow.

in two-armed thrusting:

• 213 kg, 1964 in Moscow,
• 217.5 kg, 1964 in Tokyo,
• 218 kg, born in 1966 in Berlin ,
• 218.5 kg, 1967 in Sofia,
• 219 kg, 1967 in Moscow,
• 220 kg, 1968 in Lugansk .

in the Olympic three-way battle:

• 560 kg, 1964 in Moscow,
• 590 kg, 1967 in Sofia.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Известный тяжелоатлет Жаботинский похоронен в Запорожье
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Sam Roberts: Leonid Zhabotinsky, Strongman for the Ages, Dies at 77 , The New York Times January 16, 2016

Web links

Commons : Leonid Iwanowitsch Schabotinsky  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Leonid Schabotinski in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )