Editing Vasily Alekseyev (section)

==Biography==
At the age of 18, Alekseyev began practicing weightlifting at Trud [[Voluntary Sports Societies of the Soviet Union|VSS]], trained by his coach [[Rudolf Plyukfelder]] until 1968, when he began to train solo. He was not a naturally large man like other super heavyweights but was encouraged to gain strength by adding weight. In January 1970, Alekseyev set his first world record, and during the 1970 World Weightlifting Championship in Columbus, he was the first man to clean and jerk 500 pounds (227&nbsp;kg) in competition.<ref name="srlandmark">{{cite web|url=https://strengthrecord.com/landmark-feats-and-other-records/ |title=STRENGTH RECORD, Landmark Feats and others Records |website=www.strengthrecord.com |access-date=16 April 2025}}</ref> During one of his early world records, Oscar State OBE remarked that the weight of over 460 pounds (209&nbsp;kg) in the Olympic press looked so easy it could have been a broomstick.<ref name="greatath">{{cite book |last1=Croft |first1=Lee B |editor1-first=Dawn P |editor1-last=Dawson |title=Great Athletes |edition=Revised |volume=1 |year=2002 |orig-year=1992 |publisher=Salem Press |isbn=1-58765-008-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/greatathletes0000unse/page/35 35–37] |url=https://archive.org/details/greatathletes0000unse/page/35}}</ref> This was the beginning of a series of 80 world records Alekseyev set between 1970 and 1977. He received bonus funds by the Soviet government every time he set a world record (Soviet athletics were funded by the state), so he made it a point to gradually increase his world records by 1.1 pounds or 0.5&nbsp;kg. He was unbeaten and held the World Championship and European Championship titles for those eight years. He was the first man to total over 600&nbsp;kg in the triple event.<ref name="greatath"/>

Alekseyev's performance in the [[1980 Summer Olympics|Moscow Olympics]] of 1980 was a disappointment. He had by then become more of a recluse, training by himself without a coach. In the snatch he set his opening weight too high and was unable to lift it, scoring zero kilograms as the result. He retired from weightlifting after the Moscow Olympics.<ref name="Reuters">{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/weightlifting-alekseyev-idUSLDE7AO01U20111125 |title=Weightlifting-World-record-holder Alekseyev dies at 69 |last=Fyodorov |first=Gennady |date=25 November 2011 |work=[[Reuters]] |access-date=25 November 2011}}</ref><ref name=sr>{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/al/vasily-alekseyev-1.html |title=Vasily Alekseyev |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160622034940/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/al/vasily-alekseyev-1.html |archive-date=22 June 2016 }}</ref>

In 1987, Alekseyev was elected to represent the [[Ryazan Oblast|Ryazan District]] for the Soviet Union's [[Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union|Congress of People's Deputies]].<ref name="greatath"/> Alekseyev worked as a coach between 1990 and 1992. Under his leadership, the [[Unified Team at the Olympics|Unified Team]] earned ten medals in weightlifting at the [[1992 Summer Olympics]], including five golds.<ref>{{Cite Sports-Reference |title= Unified Team Weightlifting at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games |url= https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/countries/EUN/summer/1992/WLT/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200417163006/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/countries/EUN/summer/1992/WLT/ |url-status= dead |archive-date= 17 April 2020 |access-date = 25 November 2011}}</ref>

From 1966 Alekseyev lived in [[Shakhty]], where in 1971 he graduated from the branch of the [[Novocherkassk]] Polytechnical Institute. He died on 25 November 2011 in Germany in a clinic where he had been sent for serious heart problems. He was 69.<ref name=Reuters/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Goldstein |first1=Richard |author1-link=Richard Goldstein (writer, born 1942) |title=Vasily Alekseyev, 69, Champion Weight Lifter, Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/sports/vasily-alekseyev-69-champion-weight-lifter-dies.html |access-date=14 January 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=27 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730102325/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/sports/vasily-alekseyev-69-champion-weight-lifter-dies.html |archive-date=30 July 2023 |language=en}}</ref> The Russian Weightlifting Federation reported his death and called him a "Soviet sports legend" and "one of the strongest people in the world".<ref>Original Russian text: "легендой советского спорта" and "один из сильнейших людей планеты". {{cite web |url=http://www.rfwf.ru/federation/news/845.html |script-title=ru:Ушел из жизни один из самых сильных людей планеты, Василий Иванович Алексеев |date=25 November 2011 |publisher=Russian Weightlifting Federation |language=ru |access-date=26 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404125635/http://www.rfwf.ru/federation/news/845.html |archive-date=4 April 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}</ref> He was survived by wife Olimpiada and sons Sergey and Dmitry. Dmitry competed nationally in weightlifting, placing fourth at the 1988 Soviet weightlifting championships.<ref name=sr/>