Arkady Nikitich Vorobyov (russian: Аркадий Никитич Воробьёв; 3 October 1924 – 22 December 2012) was a Soviet and Russian weightlifter, weightlifting coach, scientist and writer. He competed at the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics and won one bronze and two gold medals. Between 1950 and 1960 he set 16 official world records. Later for many years he led the national team and the Soviet weightlifting program. In 1995 he was inducted into the

International Weightlifting Federation The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), headquartered in Lausanne, is the international governing body for the sport of Olympic weightlifting. The IWF was founded in 1905, and has 192 Member Federations. The IWF President is Mohammed H ...

Hall of Fame.

Biography

Vorobyov was born in the village of Mordovo in

Tambov Oblast Tambov Oblast (russian: Тамбо́вская о́бласть, ''Tambovskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Tambov. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 1,091,994. Geo ...

, Russia. During World War II he served in the Soviet Navy on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

. After the war he worked on the restoration of the

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

sea port, clearing the mines as a diver. There Vorobyov got acquainted with weightlifting, his first competition being the sea port championship. He later won several world (1953–55, 1957 and 1958) and European titles (1950, 1953–55, 1958) competing in the light-heavyweight and middle-heavyweight categories. Between 1950 and 1960 he set 26 world records, 16 of them became official: two in the press, nine in the snatch, one in the clean and jerk and four in the total. For many years Vorobyov captained the Soviet weightlifting team, and after retiring from competitions became its head coach.Arkady Vorobyev
chidlovski.net In 1957 Vorobyov graduated from a medical institute; in 1962 he defended a PhD and in 1970 a

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

on weightlifting training at the Institute of Aviation and Space Medicine in Moscow. Since 1977 he was the

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the

Moscow Oblast Moscow Oblast ( rus, Моско́вская о́бласть, r=Moskovskaya oblast', p=mɐˈskofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ), or Podmoskovye ( rus, Подмоско́вье, p=pədmɐˈskovʲjə, literally "under Moscow"), is a federal subject of Rus ...

Institute of Physical Culture and Sports. Over his scientific career Vorobyov published five textbooks and about 200 scientific papers on weightlifting. He was a leader of the Soviet weightlifting training program and one of the first Soviet scientists to apply computers to the training process. His students included elite coaches and sportsmen from Russia, Bulgaria, Cuba, Hungary and many other countries.

References

External links

Encyclopædia Britannica on Arkady Vorobyov
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vorobyov, Arkady 1924 births 2012 deaths 20th-century Russian male writers 21st-century Russian male writers Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Merited Coaches of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Medal "For Courage" (Russia) Recipients of the Medal of Zhukov Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Olympic weightlifters of the Soviet Union Russian male weightlifters Russian male writers Soviet male weightlifters Soviet male writers Weightlifters at the 1952 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1956 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Armed Forces sports society athletes Soviet military personnel of World War II Olympic medalists in weightlifting Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics European champions in weightlifting European Weightlifting Championships medalists World Weightlifting Championships medalists