Yury Vlasov (USSR) 1963 world champion weightlifting Stockholm (total 557.5 kg).

Yury Vlasov (USSR) 1963 world champion heavyweight weightlifting Stockholm (total 557.5 kg). Full name: Yury Petrovich Vlasov Yury Vlasov succeeded American [Paul Anderson] as the claimant to the title of the World's Strongest Man. In the process he started the long line of Soviet champions in super-heavyweight. Vlasov was born to the family of military journalist and Comintern agent in China Pyotr Vlasov, who later became the Soviet general consul in Shanghai and Burma. Vlasov took up weightlifting in 1956 while studying at the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy in Moscow and was noticed by Soviet sports officials in 1958, when he won his first medal, a bronze, at the Soviet championships. Vlasov first achieved international prominence in 1959 when he won both the European and World Championships. Between 1959 and 1963 Vlasov was unbeatable and won every competition he entered. He won three more World titles (1961-63) and five more European titles (1960-64). In 1960 Vlasov easily won the gold medal at the Rome Olym