Kanybek OSMONALIEV

Kanybek Osmonaliyev from Kyrgyzstan followed fellow Soviet Aleksandr Voronin as the world's best flyweight weightlifter in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Osmonaliyev took up weightlifting in 1971 while studying at the Kyrgyz State University and was selected for the Soviet national team in 1975. In addition to his 1980 Olympic gold, Osmonaliyev was World Champion four times in a row (1978-81) and European Champion in 1978 and 1981. Osmonaliyev was Soviet flyweight champion in 1978 and 1980, taking silver in 1981 and bronze in 1977 and 1979, and set one flyweight total world record in 1981. Osmonaliyev graduated from the Kyrgyz State University as a history teacher in 1975 and, after finishing his sporting career in 1981, worked as a high school teacher in Bishkek as well as a weightlifting coach. In 1986 Osmonaliyev was briefly head coach of the Soviet national team and, from 1991-2006, he was head coach of the Kyrgyzstan national weightlifting team. Osmonaliyev is also president of the Kyrgyzstan Weightlifting Federation.