Russian Olympic weightlifting champion Yury Vlasov, who passed away last Saturday at the age of 85, was not only one of the strongest people on the planet, but also a great thinker and expert in poetry and politics, Hollywood star and former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger said on his Twitter account on Monday.
“Yury Vlasov taught all of us that “impossible” is just a word,” Schwarzenegger stated. “He was the first person to clean and jerk 200KG, and he inspired me when I met him as a young lifter in 1961. It is because of people like him that I refuse to call myself self-made.”
Yuri Vlasov taught all of us that “impossible” is just a word. He was the first person to clean and jerk 200KG, and he inspired me when I met him as a young lifter in 1961. It is because of people like him that I refuse to call myself self-made. 1/ pic.twitter.com/K4qGV0rzEz
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) February 15, 2021
“When I was lucky enough to really get to know him later, I was blown away,” the 73-year-old Hollywood star continued. “This man wasn’t just a great lifter – he was a great thinker. He talked about poetry and politics like a professor, and carried around more books than weights.”
“He told me the power of the body was nothing compared to the power of the mind. He was one of the strongest men in the world and he believed that real strength came from words.”
He was truly one of a kind and I hope each and every one of us can find inspiration in his story. I was lucky to know him and I will miss him dearly. My thoughts are with his family. 4/4
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) February 15, 2021
“He was truly one of a kind and I hope each and every one of us can find inspiration in his story. I was lucky to know him and I will miss him dearly. My thoughts are with his family,” Schwarzenegger added.
Vlasov is the gold medalist of the 1960 Olympics in Rome and the silver medalist of the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo in the over-90 kg weight category. The legendary weightlifter is also the four-time world champion (1959, 1961, 1962 and 1963), the silver medalist of the 1964 World Championship and six-time European champion (1959-1964).
During his sports career, he set 31 world records and was the flag bearer of the Soviet Union’s delegation at the Summer Olympic Games in 1960 and 1964.
After wrapping up his sports career in 1968 Vlasov became a professional writer and journalist. In 1985-1987, he served as the president of the Weightlifting Federation of the Soviet Union.
Pursuing a career of a politician, Vlasov was a member of the Congress of People’s Deputies of the Soviet Union (1989) and then of the Russian State Duma (1993). In 1996, Vlasov ran as a candidate in the Russian presidential election.
