Weightlifting. Yearbook 1984

The VIII Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR: Results and Prospects

Yu. A. Sandalov, State Coach; P. A. Poletayev, Coach of the Olympic Reserve

English summary of Tyazhelaya Atletika. Ezhegodnik 1984 (Moscow: Fizkultura i Sport, 1984), pp. 3–10: the text is paraphrased, not translated; data tables are given in full with English labels.

The weightlifting finals of the VIII Summer Spartakiad were held in Moscow's Izmailovo Sports Palace on 22–31 July 1983. They served as a general review of the sport in the country before the Moscow world and European championships in October and the Friendship-84 tournament. In all, 217 lifters took part, 62 of them foreigners from 20 countries who competed in the individual event. Medals for the two-lift total in the individual USSR championship were contested in parallel.

The contribution of sports organisations

Table 1 compares the teams at the VIII and VII Spartakiads: places, points, medals and average age. Points exclude the bonuses for records and for making or confirming the Master of Sport of International Class (MSIC) standard. The assessment must allow for the reorganisation of the trade-union sports societies after the September 1981 CPSU and Council of Ministers resolution on mass participation in sport.

The first five places went in the same order as at the VII Spartakiad: the Armed Forces, Trud, Urozhay, Dynamo and Burevestnik. Spartak recovered to sixth, though its lifters did not use all their potential; much of the lost ground came from a zero score for Merited Master of Sport S. Arakelov (110 kg). Lokomotiv and Zenit each slipped one place, to seventh and eighth. The FIS society scored for the first time (ninth), which is encouraging given that its world-record holder Yu. Zakharevich did not compete. Trudovye Reservy closed the table in tenth, and Vodnik, with no lifters in the finals, again scored nothing.

The geography of the sport kept widening: 52 cities won points, against 43 at the VII Spartakiad and 34 at the VI, and new centres emerged in Kiev (the republican school in Konche-Zaspa), Fergana, Donetsk and Mogilev. Yet only 16 of the country's 57 weightlifting sections of the schools of higher sports mastery (ShVSM) scored, although their task is to supply the national and republican teams. Particularly worrying is that for years the ShVSM of a whole region, the Primorye and Khabarovsk territories and the Amur, Irkutsk, Perm, Chita and Yakutsk regions, have produced nothing.

Table 1. Team results at the VII and VIII Spartakiads

As printed; the Moscow VIII points figure appears in the source as "!57" (presumably 157), and two unclear average ages (23.7, 22.4) are read as printed with decimal points restored.

Growth of skill and the national team's reserves

The clearest sign of higher skill was 15 all-Union records and 73 Spartakiad records, 11 of them world records. Fifty-seven lifters made the MSIC standard, 11 for the first time, and only one failed to confirm the Master of Sport entry standard. Results were well above those of the VII Spartakiad in every class (Table 2), the one exception being the 82.5 kg winner, the young A. Khrapaty, whose 380 kg (170 + 210) was 10 kg below Yu. Vardanyan's winning total at the previous Spartakiad. Comparing the top six by category shows the biggest gains in the middle and heavy classes (75 kg to over 110 kg); the first six super-heavyweights improved by 40–50 kg. The smallest gain was at 52 kg, because few short, promising lifters can be found. Our winners trailed the Bulgarians' world-level results at 52, 67.5 and 90 kg.

Only L. Taranenko (110 kg) defended his Spartakiad title, while four others kept a medal: A. Senshin (52 kg), O. Karayanidi (56 kg), A. Avsetov (67.5 kg) and V. Kravchuk (110 kg). A welcome trend continued in the falling age of participants, medallists and champions (Tables 1 and 3); the average age of champions dropped by five years. Juniors under 20 became champions for the first time, V. Kuznetsov (75 kg) and A. Khrapaty among them.

Table 2. Best results at the VIII Spartakiad against the VII Spartakiad (two-lift total, kg)

Notes: results include the parallel USSR championship; in each VIII cell the upper figure is the result and the lower the change from the previous Spartakiad. As printed; some entries (for example 285 at 67.5 kg, fifth place) do not agree with the neighbouring figures.

The Spartakiad finals coincided with the junior world championships in Cairo, and our junior team did not travel. Several of the strongest juniors, I. Isakov (52 kg, Uzbekistan), V. Kuznetsov (RSFSR) and A. Khrapaty (Kazakhstan) among them, were in republican teams, and Yu. Zakharevich was injured at the Pannonia Cup just before. Even so, Table 4 shows that our young lifters could have claimed victory in at least 7 of the 10 classes. Candidates were U. Edelkhanov (60 kg), the junior record-holders R. Gasanov and S. Martynenko (both 67.5 kg, fifth and sixth in the USSR championship), Spartakiad winners V. Kuznetsov and Khrapaty, V. Marusov (90 kg), and I. Kunashev (110 kg) and D. Ledzinsky (over 110 kg), only fourteenth and tenth but with high results for their age. Recent juniors also did well: V. Solodov (90 kg), Spartakiad champion, I. Arsamakov, silver medallist of the national championship in the same class, and the Spartakiad bronze medallists E. Novikov (67.5 kg), S. Li (75 kg) and A. Medoyev (100 kg).

Table 3. Age changes among winners, medallists and the top six

Table 4. Results of the strongest juniors in 1983 (two-lift total, kg)

Preparation of the republican, Moscow and Leningrad teams

Republics are listed in order of team placing.

Ukraine won with three Merited Masters of Sport, V. Sots (100 kg), V. Kravchuk and A. Pisarenko (over 110 kg), and MSICs in the remaining places. B. Ryzhik (52 kg) took the title and repeated his USSR record of 250 (112.5 + 137.5). Three silver medallists set personal bests: A. Senshin 245 (105 + 140); Kravchuk 425 (187.5 + 237.5), although V. Klokov beat him for second place in the USSR championship with 427.5 (190 + 237.5); and Pisarenko 460 (205 + 255), world records in the total and snatch that A. Kurlovich and V. Mosibit later broke. Bronze went to Novikov, 320 (142.5 + 177.5), and A. Azizov (60 kg), 285 (125 + 160), only fifth nationally behind U. Edelkhanov (bronze, 287.5) and V. Zakharov. S. Didyk (over 110 kg) was a sensation of the individual championship, lifting the heaviest bar, 261 kg, a world jerk record, for fifth place with 440. Six lifters fell short, among them V. Danilchenko (56 kg), Yu. Chernyshev (75 kg) and the injured Sots, second with 412.5 (185 + 227.5). Ukraine beat the RSFSR through steadier lifting without tactical errors, the merit of its coaches, and alone avoided zero scores.

The RSFSR had the most champions, four: V. Grachev (67.5 kg), with a USSR record total of 322.5 (152.5 + 180); V. Kuznetsov, with a USSR record total of 365 (165 + 200) and a world snatch record; Solodov, 400 (177.5 + 222.5); and P. Kuznetsov (100 kg), 427.5 (187.5 + 240), with a world jerk record of 240.5 kg. N. Zakharov (60 kg, 297.5) and V. Durnev (75 kg, 357.5) took silver and A. Gunyashev (over 110 kg) bronze with 450 (200 + 250). Yet only 5 of 11 members improved their bests. The weak link was 56 kg, where V. Duchev (fourth, 262.5) missed his best by 2.5 kg; the Bulgarian N. Dimitrov took second there with 267.5. Three lifters scored zero: V. Talayev (82.5 kg) and A. Saidulayev (90 kg), who opened in the snatch at their limits, and Arakelov, injured on his first attempt with 182.5 kg. Individual entrants R. Gaisin (82.5 kg), Arsamakov, A. Popov and Klokov won national silver. The coaches' misjudgement of readiness cost the team first place.

Byelorussia was very uneven. It won two golds: Taranenko, 430 (187.5 + 242.5), a world jerk record, and Kurlovich, the hero of the Spartakiad, with a record 460 (200 + 260), adding 17.5 kg to his best. Of four other MSICs only L. Kaplun (over 110 kg, 430) confirmed his class; V. Shevchik (100 kg) made the standard but was tenth nationally. Eight of 11 lifted below capacity, and two scored zero.

Kazakhstan had Khrapaty's gold and two bronzes: V. Petrenko (90 kg), 385, who lost national third to A. Glukhov of Moscow (392.5), and V. Kuzmin (110 kg), 407.5. Merited Master of Sport V. Mazin (60 kg), clearly out of form, failed with 115 kg, and MSIC I. Panaidov (100 kg) opened at a record 182.5 kg; both scored zero. The team was weak at 56, 60 and over 110 kg and had nobody at 52 kg.

Moscow was led by Glukhov, silver medallist and first-time MSIC standard. The former USSR champion Avsetov, silver with 322.5 (145 + 177.5), confirmed his title below his best form, as did the bronze medallists Karayanidi, 265, and M. Abdulmedzhidov (82.5 kg), 372.5, who lost second place to the Bulgarian R. Teodosiev (380). Three lifters scored zero, among them MSIC A. Skonnikov (67.5 kg), and the former champion V. Polonsky (52 kg) was only sixth.

Armenia fell from second to sixth, chiefly because Yu. Vardanyan was absent after a knee operation. The team was still strong: O. Mirzoyan (56 kg) set world records of 127.5 in the snatch, 161 in the jerk and 287.5 in the total, and Merited Master of Sport Yu. Sarkisyan (60 kg) a USSR jerk record of 172.5 (total 300). A. Koshkakaryan (100 kg) added 20 kg and made the MSIC standard, and the 19-year-old G. Kazaryan (82.5 kg) added 10, just 5 kg short of it. But three MSICs failed to confirm their titles and three lifters scored zero or no points, which cost the team a podium place.

Uzbekistan owed its successes to V. Bogutsky (52 kg), bronze with 240 (107.5 + 132.5), Mosibit, whose world snatch record of 205.5 kg came with only the eighth-best total (430), and A. Shmygov (100 kg), who added 15 kg and made the MSIC standard. Only the heavy classes improved personal bests; three MSICs scored zero or fell 20–22.5 kg short. Kirghizia had two MSICs who confirmed their titles, S. Li (bronze, 355) and V. Kuleshov (100 kg), but Merited Master of Sport K. Osmonaliev fell 12.5 kg short of his best. The 30-year-old Olympic champion, the tallest of the flyweights, seems to have exhausted his potential, as exhausting weight-cutting stops him building it. Only 2 of 9 improved.

Leningrad had 9 lifters, only 7 of whom trained in the city; Avsetov and Saidulayev competed for it on parallel entry. Two scored zero, the result of MSIC M. Kulikov (90 kg) was annulled, and most others missed their bests, exceptions being V. Artyukh (100 kg), who made the MSIC standard, and A. Porkhun, who repeated 397.5. Preparation was poor.

Moldavia (8 lifters), Georgia (5), Azerbaijan (6) and Lithuania (8) were weakly prepared: each had only one to three MSICs and few scoring lifters, with many zero scores. Bright spots were A. Medoyev (Georgia, 100 kg), who improved by 2.5 kg to 402.5 (177.5 + 225) for bronze, and R. Gasanov (Azerbaijan), with a junior USSR snatch record of 150 kg. Tajikistan (no MSIC, two scorers, five zero scores) was very low. Turkmenia, last at two earlier Spartakiads, improved slightly; only MS G. Ramazanov (110 kg) scored, but the team had the lowest average age, 20.9, and the 19-year-old O. Strizhenov (100 kg), with 370, looks promising. Latvia won minimal points through S. Rusak alone, and Estonia, with three lifters, scored only through A. Seym (over 110 kg), who added 7.5 kg.

Conclusions and tasks

Overall, the Spartakiad showed that: the technical preparation of most republican teams had risen, especially Ukraine, Byelorussia, Kazakhstan and Georgia, though the sport remained very weak in Estonia, Latvia, Turkmenia and Tajikistan and declined in Leningrad; its geography kept widening; the age of leading lifters kept falling; and the higher skill of our lifters tilted the balance of strength on the international platform in their favour.

The main tasks ahead are:

• Improve the links that train the Olympic reserve (children's and youth sports schools, specialised schools, sports-improvement schools and ShVSM): overhaul selection for the specialised schools, enrolling the most promising lifters of the republics, and reorganise the republican ShVSM on the Ukrainian (Konche-Zaspa) model.
• Move every organisation that trains lifters, above all the sports schools, to a single methodological system for grade and master lifters based on lesson-by-lesson programmes, and consider lowering the starting age for specialised training, now 11–12, by a year or two.
• Following the national team's experience and that of Bulgaria and the GDR, give more attention to young lifters and intensify their training, above all in the light classes.
• Improve scientific, methodological and medical support of the republican, society and departmental teams, introducing modern training methods, training devices and technical aids. Raise training volume and intensity by paying more attention to recovery (rational nutrition, targeted physiotherapy, natural and pedagogical means, broader use of general physical training), and keep expanding and equipping weightlifting halls and centres with modern equipment and rehabilitation complexes.
• Overcome the lag in several republics, Leningrad, Siberia and the Far East, Estonia, Latvia and Tajikistan.
• Strengthen ideological and educational work with athletes.
• Popularise weightlifting, making broad use of mass forms of kettlebell lifting and athletic gymnastics.