Outstanding athletes not only win prestigious competitions, but also set a good example for the younger generation. Leonid Zhabotinsky remained in the history of sports as one of the most powerful people on the planet.
Difficult childhood
Long-term observations indicate that it is not so easy for a versatile person to choose a suitable field of activity. This problem often has to be solved by those who intend to seriously engage in sports. In childhood, boys imitate famous athletes. However, the understanding that it is in this form that there is a real opportunity to achieve high results comes later. Leonid Zhabotinsky in adolescence was engaged in wrestling, boxing and athletics. The young athlete demonstrated skills in shot put, but the coaches saw him as a weightlifter.
The future record holder and multiple Olympic champion was born on January 28, 1938 in a peasant family. Parents at that time lived in the village of Uspenka, Kharkov region. Three years later, my father was invited to work at a tractor plant, which was located in the regional center. A few months after the move, the war broke out, and the Zhabotinsky family ended up in the occupied territory. After the liberation of the city, Leonid went to school and began to engage in various sports sections.
Triumphant records
It is important to note that the boy was encouraged to play sports by his father. He even bought the future champion a racing bike, which cost a lot of money in those days. After graduating from seven classes, Leonid began working as an apprentice turner at the Kharkov Tractor Plant. Zhabotinsky liked to do shot put. He even fulfilled the norm of a master of sports. However, under the influence of an experienced coach, he focused on weightlifting. In 1957, he first took part in the competition for the championship of Ukraine and took the honorable third place.
Four years later, Zhabotinsky became the second in the championship of the Soviet Union. And in 1963, he set a world record in the snatch with a weight of 165 kg. At the Tokyo Olympics, Leonid, in a tough fight with another Soviet weightlifter Yuri Vlasov, became the absolute champion. Zhabotinsky managed to repeat his achievement at the 1968 Olympics, which was held in Mexico City. The weightlifter planned to perform at the next Olympic Games, but a spinal injury did not allow him to continue his sports career.
Achievements and personal life
After his recovery, Leonid Ivanovich devoted many years to coaching with young athletes. For his great contribution to the development of Soviet sports, he was twice awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. American athlete, actor and governor Arnold Schwarzenegger admired the achievements of the great weightlifter. Zhabotinsky, at the invitation of Arnold, visited him on American soil.
The personal life of the legendary athlete has developed well. Leonid Ivanovich and Raisa Nikolaevna met back in 1969. We met. They started a family. The husband and wife raised and raised two sons who followed in the footsteps of their father.
Leonid Ivanovich Zhabotinsky died in January 2016 after a serious illness. Buried in the city of Zaporozhye.
