Vasily Alexeev (b. 1942) remains of the most successful and colorful olympic weightlifters of all time even today, almost 20 year after his last competition. He was the first lifter to total mythical 600 kg on the three lifts, and 400 kg on the two lifts. His first sporting endeavors were as a successful volleyball player. At the age of 19, he swapped the court for the gym and proceeded collecting national and world titles (22) which, usually, he won with regular ease.

Using his unequalled strength, this colossal Russian lifter (160kg/1.86m) totaled 640 kg on the three lifts during the Munich Olympic Games in 1972. This achievement will never be repeated since the press was discontinued from the Olympic program in 1972. In the 1970's he remained literally unchallenged. Between 1970 and 1978 Alexeev set 80 world records, a number that is particularly significant when one considers that he allegedly received from the Soviet government a prize of $ 700 to $ 1500 every time he broke a world record. After a serious injury in 1978, Alexeev returned to the Olympics in Moscow (1980). However, past his best, he was unable to even lift the bar higher than his knees...

According to various resources, when he wasn't training, Alexeev was collecting crystal goblets and Armenian cognac, reading Lenin and the translated works of Jack London, and listening to the recordings of Tom Jones. His supreme confidence touched every part of his life. Not only was Alexeev the world's greatest super heavyweight, he also considered himself the finest gardener, cook, carpenter, singer and billiards player in perhaps the entire U.S.S.R. Although, I am not sure that most of these were not just his own advertising tricks.