Viktor KURENTSOV

Born in Belarus, Viktor Kurentsov took up weightlifting in 1959 while serving with the Soviet Army in the Russian Far East and soon rose to be the world's best middleweight lifter of the late 1960s, being nearly unbeatable. During his career Kurentsov won Olympic gold in 1968 and silver in 1964, was World Champion five times (1965-66, 1968-70) and European Champion seven times (1964-66, 1968-71). He also won silver at the 1964 World Championships and 1972 European Championships and bronze at the 1974 European Championships. Domestically Kurentsov was also unbeatable, winning the Soviet title nine times (1964-70, 1972, 1974) and the Soviet Cup in 1970. He set 24 middleweight world records from 1964-68: six in the press, eight in the clean & jerk, and 10 in the total.

After finishing his sporting career Kurentsov continued to serve with the Soviet Army, retiring from the force in 1990 as a colonel. After his Army retirement Kurentsov went into local politics. In 1990 he was elected to the Odinsovo city council, being the city council’s deputy chairman from 1991-93. From 1993-98, Kurensov worked with the Russian embassy in Italy. After returning from Italy Kurentsov moved back to Odintsovo and from 1999-2003 worked as an international relations consultant with the Odintsovo district government.