Leonid Zhabotinsky
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Born | Uspenka, Sumy, Ukrainian SSR | 28 January 1938||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 14 January 2016 Zaporozhia, Ukraine | (aged 77)||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 163 kg (359 lb) (1968) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sport | Weightlifting | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Leonid Ivanovych Zhabotynsky (Ukrainian: Леонiд Іванович Жаботинський; 28 January 1938 – 14 January 2016) was a Ukrainian weightlifter who set 19 world records in the superheavyweight class, and won gold medals at the 1964 and 1968 Olympic Games.[2][3]
Early life[]
Zhabotinsky was born in a village in Uspenka, Sumy Oblast, Ukrainian SSR into a Cossack family.[4] Although Ivan Philipovich, his father, was an athlete, Zhabotinsky stated in a 1967 interview that he took after one of his grandfathers, and neither of his parents had an outstanding physique.[3] Zhabotynsky spent his childhood years in Zaporizhia. After graduating from the seven-year secondary school, he worked at the Kharkiv Tractor Plant and was coached by Mikhail Svetlichny at the local weightlifting club of the Armed Forces sports society.[3][4]
Weightlifting career[]
Zhabotynsky debuted at the Ukrainian SSR Championship in 1957, where he earned a bronze medal.[3] Later that year, Zhabotynsky entered the Kharkiv Pedagogical Institute and studied there until 1964. Zhabotynsky was the flag bearer for the Soviet Union during the opening ceremonies of the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, carrying the Soviet flag single-handed when the team marched in, when all the other flag bearers used two hands.[3] Between 1963 and 1974 Zhabotynsky set 19 world records in the superheavyweight class and won gold medals at the 1964 and 1968 Olympics.[5][3] He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1965 and 1991.[citation needed]
Personal life[]
In 1964 Zhabotinsky graduated from the Kharkiv Pedagogical Institute and in 1970 defended a PhD in pedagogy. After ending his sport career he coached weightlifters at the Soviet Army and retired in 1991 as a colonel. In 1987–1991 he worked in Madagascar as a military consultant and weightlifting coach. After that he became a pro-rector of the Moscow Institute of Business and Law, one of the first private higher education facilities in Russia.[2]
Zhabotinsky was married to Raisa and had two sons, Ruslan and Vilen, both of whom have competed in weightlifting.[6] He died at the age of 77 on 14 January 2016 in Zaporozhye, Ukraine.[3][7]
Zhabotinsky was Arnold Schwarzenegger's teenage idol.[3]
References[]
- ^ Yuri Vlasov (1984). Справедливость силы. М.: Молодая гвардия. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Leonid Zhabotynskiy". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Roberts, Sam (17 January 2016). "Leonid Zhabotinsky, Strongman for the Ages, Dies at 77". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Жаботинский, Леонид Жаботинский. Peoples.ru (28 January 1938). Retrieved on 2 August 2012.
- ^ Leonid Zhabotinsky. chidlovski.net
- ^ Леонид Жаботинский: «Мне не надо было есть за десятерых, чтобы бить рекорды». fakty.ua. 29 January 2013
- ^ Скончался легендарный тяжелоатлет Леонид Жаботинский (in Russian). BBC. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leonid Zhabotinsky. |
- Biography and photo (in Russian)
- Leonid holding the flag
- 1938 births
- 2016 deaths
- People from Krasnopillya, Sumy Oblast
- Soviet male weightlifters
- Ukrainian male weightlifters
- Ukrainian Cossacks
- Olympic weightlifters of the Soviet Union
- Weightlifters at the 1964 Summer Olympics
- Weightlifters at the 1968 Summer Olympics
- Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union
- Armed Forces sports society athletes
- Communist Party of the Soviet Union members
- Olympic medalists in weightlifting
- Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics
- European Weightlifting Championships medalists
- World Weightlifting Championships medalists