Yanko Rusev ( bg, Янко Русев, born 1 December 1958) is a former

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

weightlifter Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lift ...

for

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. In 1993 he was elected member of 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. He was named the 1981 Athlete of the Year for Bulgaria. In 2019 he was awarded the highest state award of Bulgaria in the field of sport - the Wreath of the winner.

Early life

He was born on December 1, 1958 in Ivanski,

Shumen Shumen ( bg, Шумен, also romanized as ''Shoumen'' or ''Šumen'', ) is the tenth largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and economic capital of Shumen Province. Etymology The city was first mentioned as ''Šimeonis'' in 1153 by t ...

. At 15, he attempted to enter the sport school "Olympian Hopes" () in Sofia, but was turned down on the grounds that he was a "hopeless" weightlifter.

Training

Rusev first began training for

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

. Afterwards, he took an interest in

weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift Weight training#Equipment, weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various t ...

. During his education at 19, Ivan Abadzhiev noticed him, and soon Rusev was weightlifting in the world games at

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, and won a silver medal.

Weightlifting achievements

*Olympic champion (1980 - 67,5 kg); *Five-time senior world champion (1978, 79 and 80 - 67,5 kg, 81 and 1982 – 75 kg); *Twice silver medalist in Senior World Championships (1977 – 60 kg and 1983 - 67,5 kg); *Five-time senior European champion (1978, 79, 80 - 67,5 kg 81 and 1982 75 kg); *Twice silver medalist in Senior European Championships (1977 – 60 kg and 1983 - 67,5 kg); *Set 36 world records during his career.

World Records by Yanko Rusev

*9/19/1977 Clean and Jerk 165 Featherweight Stuttgart *7/18/1978 Clean and Jerk 179 Lightweight Athens *10/5/1978 Clean and Jerk 180 Lightweight Gettysburg *5/22/1979 Snatch 145 Lightweight Varna *5/22/1979 Snatch 146 Lightweight Varna *5/22/1979 Clean and Jerk 181.5 Lightweight Varna *7/9/1979 Snatch 147 Lightweight Sofia *7/9/1979 Clean and Jerk 185.5 Lightweight Sofia *7/9/1979 Total (2) 325 Lightweight Sofia *11/6/1979 Clean and Jerk 187.5 Lightweight Saloniki *11/6/1979 Total (2) 332.5 Lightweight Saloniki *2/1/1980 Snatch 147.5 Lightweight Varna *2/1/1980 Clean and Jerk 188 Lightweight Varna *2/1/1980 Total (2) 335 Lightweight Varna *4/28/1980 Snatch 148 Lightweight Beograd *4/28/1980 Clean and Jerk 190 Lightweight Beograd *4/28/1980 Total (2) 337.5 Lightweight Beograd *7/23/1980 Clean and Jerk 195 Lightweight Moscow *7/23/1980 Total (2) 342.5 Lightweight Moscow *9/16/1981 Clean and Jerk 206 Middleweight Lille *4/8/1982 Clean and Jerk 206.5 Middleweight Varna *9/2/1982 Total (2) 365 Middleweight Ljubljana *9/22/1982 Clean and Jerk 208 Middleweight Ljubljana *9/22/1982 Clean and Jerk 209 Middleweight Ljubljana *9/22/1982 Total (2) 362.5 Middleweight Ljubljana

References

External links

* * 1958 births Living people Bulgarian male weightlifters Olympic weightlifters of Bulgaria Weightlifters at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Bulgaria Olympic medalists in weightlifting People from Shumen Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics World record setters in weightlifting European Weightlifting Championships medalists World Weightlifting Championships medalists 20th-century Bulgarian people {{Bulgaria-weightlifting-bio-stub