The great Soviet weightlifter Yuri Vlasov.

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Yuri Vlasov and his coach Suren Bogdasarov.

 

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Yuri Vlasov with his daughter Alena.

 

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"Who do you choose to be — a mouse, a rat, or to walk upright at full height?"
(Yuri Vlasov. “The Geometry of Feelings”)

 

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"I went to Tokyo with my first book — a collection of short stories and essays titled To Overcome Oneself. The title was suggested by my wife, Natalia, in the poems of Emil Verhaeren, “The Sword.” A few years earlier I had gone through a period of intense fascination with Verhaeren.
“…The blood of your fathers and grandfathers will sour within you;
To become strong like them is not your fate;
"Without knowing life — its sorrows and its joys —
You will look upon it like an invalid, through a window…
To overcome oneself! If only you could…”
I had no illusions: the collection was unquestionably apprentice work — mediocre, perhaps even worse — but this is an inevitable stage in writing. How many records that first book cost me, and along with it the articles, essays, and reports! How much it slowed my advance toward records, lowered the ceiling of what was possible!
“Only he is free who is conscious of himself as a living being,” Tolstoy wrote in his diary on July 31, 1891. “And to be conscious of oneself as living means to be conscious of the law of one’s life; it means striving to fulfill the law of one’s life.”
The law of one’s life. Awareness of one’s path. A sense of being destined for that path. Awareness of oneself. And why does one become aware of oneself?..
Among other commandments, one held firm power over me — the commandment of Honoré Mirabeau (Count of Riqueti): “I have always believed and will continue to believe that indifference to injustice is betrayal and baseness…”
The readiness, without hesitation, to pay any price for the opportunity to follow the law of one’s life. Devotion to this law stands above all instincts of self-preservation. This is not the dark narrowness of a fanatic; it is a luminous faith in the rightness of life in the name of all that is human.
There is no great or small deed — there is only the fulfillment of the law of life. Service to this law makes every person deeply interesting, necessary, important; it adorns life and strengthens the life of all". (Yury Vlasov, “The Justice of Strength”).In the photo: Yuri Vlasov and his first wife Natalia.

 

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I am ready for trials, losses, and any hardships. To pity oneself means to cut off the path to the future. It is the same as losing oneself or surrendering oneself to another’s power. Renounce the body — serve the spirit, the idea!
(Yuri Vlasov, “Red Knaves”)

 

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"The need for rest forces me to return to the hotel room and lie down on the bed.
Again I leaf through magazines. Here, in a photograph, is my triumph in Leningrad. There I achieved my best total in the three lifts. The happiness of past victories does not warm me. Who is the author of the report? So many words! He harnesses my triumph to his own happiness. What do they care about me! What matters to them are their own thoughts and feelings.
Pain grows fat on my doubts. After all, it was I myself who drove myself through all these trials. No one else — only me. And this sense of doom because of the “extreme.” It suggests to me that I have overstrained myself.
I get up. I examine myself in the mirror. I have large, responsive muscles. How many obedient muscles! Powerful waves of muscle rolling under the skin.
“Not a tour, but a confession of the soul,” I smirk. “More precisely — its transformation.” My chuckle sounds foolish in this room. Why am I here? Why?.."
(Yuri Vlasov, “Salty Joys”)

 

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"If the opening ceremony of the Games was a procession of columns, then at the closing celebration only the flag bearers took part instead of the teams.
I stepped onto the track of the Stadio Olimpico from the tunnel on the side of the small, “marble” stadium — everything was floating in the haze of floodlights! Carrying the flag across the stadium takes a long time. I knew the spectators were watching to see whether I would shift my grip on the flagstaff. It was, in a way, a small continuation of the competition. A new, small trial.
United Press International ran the headline: “…for ten minutes the flag bearer’s hand did not tremble even once…”
Late at night, the flag bearers line up opposite the honorary tribune. To the anthem of Greece, its flag is raised on the flagpole. A little later, the flags of Italy and Japan — the country of the next Olympic Games — rise into the air.
Farewell, Rome! Farewell, city of generous sun!.."
(Yuri Vlasov, “The Justice of Strength”)

 

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Books by Yuri Vlasov.
The novel "The Fiery Cross" (the author calls it a historical confession), written from documentary sources, is dedicated to the October Revolution and the Civil War. The author reinterprets the history of the birth and development of Leninism and Bolshevism in Russia. Contents: Book 1. - Former. Book 2. - The Death of the Admiral. Book 3. - The "Geneva" Account.

 

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Books by Yuri Vlasov.
"To overcome oneself.". Publishing house "Young Guard", 1964.
"Schwarzenegger idolizes him"—that's how newspapers described him. Yuri Vlasov was a weightlifter, a 1960 Olympic champion, and multiple World, European, and Soviet champion, setting 31 world records. He was also a writer, journalist, and public and political figure. He inspired the young Arnold Schwarzenegger, the future Terminator and bodybuilding icon, to achieve athletic achievements, as well as hundreds of thousands of young people dreaming of a career in sports. After retiring as a weightlifter, Vlasov remained an integral part of international and Russian sport. He continued to inspire people to dream not through his achievements, but through his words and memories. The stories collected in this book are small glimpses into the past of this great athlete. Paris, Budapest, Cuba, training, competitions, victories and defeats—Vlasov shares the smallest details of his life, showing how success is achieved. How to overcome yourself despite life's difficulties is the topic of this book.

 

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Books by Yuri Vlasov.
"To overcome oneself."
Publisher "Conceptual", 2022

 

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Books by Yuri Vlasov. "White Moment."
Publisher "Conceptual", 2022
Have you ever experienced a moment of absolute happiness? How would you describe this feeling? What would you compare it to? Each person has their own feelings and their own path to their dream. Achieving a goal and becoming first among equals—that's the happiness of every athlete. But who does he defeat—his opponent or... himself? To achieve his happy moment, the author required unwavering willpower and courage, high self-discipline, and a firm belief in himself and his own abilities. The famous weightlifter's recipe for happiness will resonate with even those far removed from sports. After all, being happy means, first and foremost, conquering yourself and external circumstances.

 

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Books by Yuri Vlasov.
"White Moment."
"Soviet Russia" Publishing House, 1972.

 

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Censorship restrictions of the recent past made it almost impossible for Yuri Vlasov—a well-known public figure, writer, and athlete—to publish his works. The collection "Frost" includes stories and novellas published for the first time, written fifteen to twenty years ago.