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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Leonid Zhabotynsky: Young Schwartzenegger Took My Autograph

13 November, 2012 - 00:00
Photo by Boris Hovhun: Leonid Zhabotynsky: We are of Cossac Fraternity

There is no need to introduce him to the fans. Some time ago experts considered him to be the strongest man on Earth. And that was the pure truth. Two-time Olympic weightlifting champion Leonid Zhabotynsky is 60 year old, but the giant from Zaporizhzhia still feels all right. Laughing and telling jokes he convinced The Day's reporter of that.

A lot of stories are told about you and your competition with Vlasov (Vlasov won the Rome Olympics in weightlifting). I remember some rumors about special boots Yuri used to wear on the competition platform. These boots were some kind of a talisman, his symbol of invincibility.

Yes, there were names of athletes he defeated in numerous tournaments written with red paint on his boots, but my name wasn't there.

They used to say you set new records gradually, adding only the essential minimum of kilograms. Did they pay much for every new record you set?

That is probably what my kind, unconceited, and useless well-wishers used to say, if you know what I mean by well-wishers. There was a time, when I added twenty kilograms to the old record. That was in Bulgaria, when Todor Zhivkov, then political leader of the country, asked me to set a new world record for his birthday. So I did. No big deal.

How much did you weigh then and now?

I used to weigh about 155 kilograms back then and now I am 136 kilograms. I am of Cossack origin, you know.

That is probably why you were chosen as a model for the Cossack history museum on the Khortytsia Island.

I do not know exactly why, I will remember that week of posing in the costume of Hetman Sahaidachny for a very long time. As you see I am no milquetoast, but I give you my word that it was not easy to stand in all those clothes with the hetman's mace in an outstretched hand.

I see, of course, it was hard. But your children and grandchildren will see the family head in such an exotic dressing.

We know that people usually come to the capital looking for a better life. Or are they are brought there?

All that does not apply to me. I arrived in Moscow when my success and medals had passed by and become history. There is such an unpleasant word as unneeded. I got used to it, but think about Kyiv-born Anatoly Byshovets, who now chairs the Russian National soccer team. Do you think he does not have spiteful critics who dream of when he stumbles and falls. They add that they have enough of their own, Russian-born ones.

As for me, right after the Tokyo Olympics I built a weightlifting club in Zaporizhzhia, of course with the help of local authorities and also wanted to settle down there as a coach. I also wanted to create a Zhabotynsky fund, to help sports veterans and promising young people. But it turned out Ukraine did not need the service of a two-time Olympic champion. There are strong swimmers, jumpers, track and field athletes, various teams, but there are no weightlifters.

I was an army club member and received an opportunity to move to Madagascar as a military adviser. Incidentally, famous ex-Dynamo half-back Volodymyr Muntian was also there then. After retiring with the rank of colonel, I have been working as pro-rector of Moscow Institute of Business and Law. I also chair the institute's physical training department. Sometimes it really pays to be in charge, I introduced weightlifting there, and a few young men became masters of sports under my supervision. If you only knew how happy I would be if I could work for Ukrainian sports!

But shouldn't there be certain compensation, good house in a prestigious area?

You guessed quite right about the housing: I live with my wife and grand-daughter in the one-room apartment near the river port.

You have a car, a Volga, your favorite trade mark.

If you remember, this is not luxury, just transportation.

Judging from your intonation, you would not be against coming back to Ukraine?

No, I wouldn't. And this question is still open, because two my sons live in Zaporizhzhia, and if they find a job for me I will definitely come back to the city of my youth.

You have visited many countries and met many people. What do you remember the best?

It happened in late 1960s in Vienna, Austria at the Austrian Communist Party Congress, where I was invited along with other Soviet athletes and cultural experts as entourage, as honored guests. During one of the intermissions an athletically-built young man came up to me and asked for an autograph. I signed him my picture. And after many years I learned this young fan of mine was Arnold Schwartzenegger, present Hollywood star.

The Day is having a two-year anniversary. What would you like to wish us?

Anniversaries are good, but they bring headaches. I had my own anniversary this year, you know. I wish you all the best and do not be afraid of difficulties, they will take you to records heights.

 

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