Zhabotinsky Leonid Ivanovich - the legendary Soviet (Ukrainian SSR) weightlifter, who competed in the heavyweight division. In this article we will talk about the personal life and sports career of this outstanding athlete. Do you want to know more about Leonid Zhabotinsky? Then read this article!
Leonid Zhabotinsky: biography
Leonid Ivanovich Zhabotinsky is a cult Soviet athlete, whose achievements are very difficult to overestimate. The Ukrainian weightlifter set a lot of world records, received a whole bunch of awards. What is there, once the "iron Arnie" himself admitted that Leonid Zhabotinsky was a real idol for him, an example to follow. After reading this article, you will learn the story of this legendary Soviet athlete.
Childhood
The legendary Soviet athlete was born on January 28, 1938 in the Krasnopolsky district in the village of Uspenka, Kharkov (now Sumy) region. The father of the future athlete - Ivan Filippovich Zhabotinsky, mother - Efrosinsia Danilovna Severina (maidensurname). In addition to Leonid, the Zhabotinsky family had another son, Vladimir. In 1941 the family moved to Kharkov. There, until 1943, they successfully survive the German occupation.
In his youth, Leonid was fond of a wide variety of sports. Zhabotinsky managed to try his hand at boxing, athletics, and even wrestling. Having received an education (7 classes), Leonid went to work at the Ordzhonikidze Tractor Plant (Kharkov). In parallel with this, Leonid studied under the strict guidance of the notorious coach MP Svetlichny. And in 1957, the weightlifter entered KhNPU (Kharkov State Pedagogical Institute) named after Grigory Skovoroda. Zhabotinsky Leonid Ivanovich graduated in 1964.
First Achievements
In 1957, taking part in the championship of Ukraine, Zhabotinsky competed in weightlifting for the first time. Despite his inexperience, the athlete took bronze with a result of 415 kilograms in triathlon. After some time, Leonid received the prestigious title of master of sports in shot put. And already in 1961, taking part in the USSR championship, Zhabotinsky managed to take the favorite and Olympic champion Yuri Vlasov off the stage. It was then that Vlasov said his legendary phrase: "The time will come, you will take me out of the sport."
Tokyo Olympics
The Tokyo Olympics is definitely the peak of a career and the main achievement of a Ukrainian athlete. It was there that the long-awaited meeting between Zhabotinsky and Vlasov took place. These two weightlifters have long been considered the strongest people on the planet, so watching their skirmish was much more interesting. eighteenOctober 1964, during the competition, the giant Shibuya hall could not accommodate all the spectators who wanted to see the duel of two Soviet athletes. Many did not even take into account the American weightlifter Norbert Shemansky. Everyone understood that the struggle for gold and the title of the strongest man in the world would unfold between the triumphant Vlasov and his main competitor, Leonid Zhabotinsky.
A Ukrainian weightlifter went to his first Olympics, already being a world record holder. However, before the competition, Leonid Zhabotinsky was injured. And the athlete weighed 18 kilograms more than his opponent.
The confrontation between the athletes was very spectacular. Initially, Zhabotinsky was inferior to Vlasov. However, the fate of gold was practically a foregone conclusion: Leonid did the impossible. In the last exercise, the Ukrainian weightlifter set a world record and thus secured the victory. The next day, local newspapers were full of headlines of the following plan: "Whoever did not watch the confrontation between Vlasov and Zhabotinsky did not see the Olympic Games." During the parade in honor of the closing of the Olympics-64, the Ukrainian athlete carried the flag of the USSR despite his injured hand.
Further activities
Leonid Zhabotinsky consolidated his success at the next Olympics, which was held in Mexico City in 1968. The legendary weightlifter in the total amount of triathlon was able to get ahead of the silver medalist by 17.5 kilograms. In addition, Leonid set Olympic records in bench press (200 kilograms) and snatch (170kilogram).
From 1969 to 1973 Jabotinsky suffered a very serious illness. It even went as far as surgery. But despite the state of he alth, the weightlifter managed to return to big sport. In 1973, Zhabotinsky won the USSR championship and set another world record at the same time. In 1974, the athlete participated in the championship of the Armed Forces. It was there that the Ukrainian weightlifter set his last record (a snatch of 185.5 kilograms).
For several years, Jabotinsky worked as a coach of the Armed Forces team. During 1987-1891 he was a military adviser in Madagascar. From 1996 to this day, Zhabotinsky has been working as vice-rector for security and educational work at MIPP (Moscow Institute of Entrepreneurship and Law). During his busy life, Leonid Zhabotinsky received a lot of prestigious titles, titles, awards, etc.
