Yury Vlasov has passed away at age 85.
A Russian Olympic gold medal weightlifting champion, Yury Vlasov was a true legend in the game. According to reports, Vlasov passed away on February 13, 2021, due to natural causes.
Yury Vlasov realized the heights of his weightlifting career when he won gold at the 1960 Olympic games in Rome. The competitive weightlifter was also a politician and writer. He even ran as an independent presidential candidate back in the 1996 Russian presidential election.
Famed bodybuilder, actor, politician, and entrepreneur Arnold Schwarzenegger paid tribute to the Russian weightlifting legend. In a series of heartfelt Tweets Arnold Schwarzengger said the following:
“Yuri Vlasov taught all of us that “impossible” is just a word. He was the first person to clean and jerk 200KG, and he inspired me when I met him as a young lifter in 1961. It is because of people like him that I refuse to call myself self-made.
When I was lucky enough to really get to know him later, I was blown away. This man wasn’t just a great lifter – he was a great thinker. He talked about poetry and politics like a professor, and carried around more books than weights.
He told me the power of the body was nothing compared to the power of the mind. He was one of the strongest men in the world and he believed that real strength came from words.
He was truly one of a kind and I hope each and every one of us can find inspiration in his story. I was lucky to know him and I will miss him dearly. My thoughts are with his family.”
Yuri Vlasov taught all of us that “impossible” is just a word. He was the first person to clean and jerk 200KG, and he inspired me when I met him as a young lifter in 1961. It is because of people like him that I refuse to call myself self-made. 1/ pic.twitter.com/K4qGV0rzEz
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) February 15, 2021
When I was lucky enough to really get to know him later, I was blown away. This man wasn’t just a great lifter – he was a great thinker. He talked about poetry and politics like a professor, and carried around more books than weights. 2/
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) February 15, 2021
He told me the power of the body was nothing compared to the power of the mind. He was one of the strongest men in the world and he believed that real strength came from words. 3/
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) February 15, 2021
He was truly one of a kind and I hope each and every one of us can find inspiration in his story. I was lucky to know him and I will miss him dearly. My thoughts are with his family. 4/4
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) February 15, 2021
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Managing Editor at Generation Iron, Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Sound Cloud for in-depth MMA analysis.
