Yuri ZAKHAREVICH

Yury Zakharevich took over the mantle of greatness in the heavyweight class from fellow Soviet Leonid Taranenko. In 1983 Zakharevich dislocated his elbow and was told he would never lift again. He had surgery, however, in which a synthetic tendon was used to rebuild the elbow and returned better than before. By the late 1980s he was so dominant that the super-heavyweights feared he might attempt to move up to their weight class. At the 1986 World Championships his total would have won silver in the super-heavyweight class. Zakharevich was World heavyweight champion from 1985-87, while taking middle-heavyweight silver in 1981 and sub-heavyweight silver in 1982, and European heavyweight champion from 1984-88, while taking middle-heavyweight silver in 1981, sub-heavyweight silver in 1982 and heavyweight silver in 1990. Zakharevich also won the Soviet sub-heavyweight title in 1982, heavyweight title in 1986, while taking middle-heavyweight silver in 1981, and won the Soviet middle-heavyweight cup in 1980 and sub-heavyweight cup in 1981. During his career Zakharevich broke 38 world records, four in middle-heavyweight (three in snatch and one in total), 16 in sub-heavyweight (seven in snatch, four in clean & jerk and five in total) and 18 in heavyweight (ten in snatch, two in clean & jerk and six in total). Zakharevich finished his sporting career after the fall of Soviet Union and later worked as a sports official. In the 1990s he was vice-president of the Russian Weightlifting Federation and from 2000-03 was the president of the International Weightlifting Federation.