Leonid Zhabotinsky
Zhabotinsky in 1968
Personal information
Born(1938-01-28)28 January 1938
Uspenka, Sumy, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Died14 January 2016(2016-01-14) (aged 77)
Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
Height1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)[1]
Weight163 kg (359 lb) (1968)
Sport
SportWeightlifting
Medal record
Representing  Soviet Union
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place1964 Tokyo+90 kg
Gold medal – first place1968 Mexico City+90 kg
World Weightlifting Championships
Bronze medal – third place1963 Stockholm+90 kg
Gold medal – first place1964 Tokyo+90 kg
Gold medal – first place1965 Teheran+90 kg
Gold medal – first place1966 East Berlin+90 kg
Gold medal – first place1968 Mexico City+90 kg
European Weightlifting Championships
Silver medal – second place1963 Stockholm+90 kg
Gold medal – first place1966 East Berlin+90 kg
Gold medal – first place1968 Leningrad+90 kg
USSR Weightlifting Championships
Silver medal – second place1961 Dnipropetrovsk+110 kg
Silver medal – second place1962 Tbilisi+110 kg
Silver medal – second place1963 Moscow+102.5 kg
Gold medal – first place1964 Kiev+102.5 kg
Gold medal – first place1965 Yerevan+102.5k g
Gold medal – first place1966 Moscow+102.5 kg
Gold medal – first place1967 Luhansk+102.5 kg
Gold medal – first place1965 Rostov-on-Don+110 kg

Leonid Ivanovich Zhabotinsky (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, into a Cossack family.[4] Although Ivan Filippovich, 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] Zhabotinsky spent his childhood years in Zaporozhye. After graduating from the seven-year secondary school, he worked at the Kharkov Tractor Plant and was coached by Mikhail Svetlichny at the local weightlifting club of the Armed Forces sports society.[3][4]

Weightlifting career

Zhabotinsky debuted at the Ukrainian SSR Championship in 1957, where he earned a bronze medal.[3] Later that year, Zhabotinsky entered the Kharkov Pedagogical Institute and studied there until 1964. He was the flag bearer for the Soviet Union during the opening ceremonies of the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, carrying the flag with one hand when the team marched in, when all the other flag bearers used two hands.[3] Between 1963 and 1974, Zhabotinsky 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.

Personal life

In 1964, Zhabotinsky graduated from the Kharkov 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 Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.[3][7]

Zhabotinsky was Arnold Schwarzenegger's teenage idol.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Yuri Vlasov (1984). Справедливость силы. М.: Молодая гвардия. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Leonid Zhabotynskiy". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Roberts, Sam (17 January 2016). "Leonid Zhabotinsky, Strongman for the Ages, Dies at 77". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  4. 1 2 Жаботинский, Леонид Жаботинский. Peoples.ru (28 January 1938). Retrieved on 2 August 2012.
  5. ↑ Leonid Zhabotinsky. chidlovski.net
  6. ↑ Леонид Жаботинский: «Мне не надо было есть за десятерых, чтобы бить рекорды». fakty.ua. 29 January 2013
  7. ↑ Скончался легендарный тяжелоатлет Леонид Жаботинский (in Russian). BBC. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
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