Alexey Ivanovich Voyevoda (russian: Алексей Иванович Воевода; born 9 May 1980) is a Russian

bobsled Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

der, professional armwrestler and politician.

Bobsleigh

A professional

bobsleigh Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

er since 2002, Voyevoda won silver in the four-man bobsleigh event with teammates Philippe Egorov,

Alexei Seliverstov Alexei Nikolayevich Seliverstov (russian: Алексей Николаевич Селиверстов) (sometimes listed as Aleksey Seliverstov, born July 24, 1976 in Ufa) is a Russian bobsledder who has competed since 1996. Competing in th ...

, and

Alexandre Zoubkov Alexandr Yuryevich Zubkov (russian: Александр Юрьевич Зубков; born 10 August 1974) is a Russian retired bobsledder who has competed since 1999. Competing in four Winter Olympics, he won two medals with a silver in 2006 (four ...

at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

. He also won a bronze in the two-man event at the 2008 FIBT World Championships in

Altenberg, Germany Altenberg () is a town in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in Saxony, Germany. Geography The town is situated in the Ore Mountains, 32 km south of Dresden, and 15 km northwest of Teplice, Czech Republic. The village of ...

. At the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gret ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, Voyevoda won a bronze in the two-man event. At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Voyevoda initially won a gold medal in the two-man event and a gold medal in the four-man event. Voyevoda received the Order For Merit to the Fatherland Award 4th class with Russian President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

handing the state awards. On 24 November 2017, he was stripped of the 2014 Olympic medals by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

, following the doping violation of his bobsledding partner Aleksandr Zubkov. On 18 December 2017, Voyevoda received a personal lifetime ban from the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

due to doping violations at the 2014 Winter Olympics. On 1 February 2018, the CAS removed the sanctions from Alexey Negodaylo and Dmitry Trunenkov in bobsleigh, but upheld them on their teammates Alexandr Zubkov and Alexey Voyevoda.

Arm wrestling

Voyevoda holds a good deal of recognition as a professional arm wrestler, having also secured several Russian arm wrestling championships. His triumph over legendary arm-wrestler John Brzenk was immortalized in the feature-length documentary, "Pulling John", directed by Vassiliki Khonsari and Sevan Matossian. The film "Pulling John" also chronicles his life and training in Russia. He was defeated by Travis Bagent at the 2003 WAF championship, but won the Zloty Tur 2004 cup one year later, defeating high level arm wrestlers such as Bagent, Brzenk, Matt Girdner, and Alexey Semerenko. Voyevoda reclaimed the WAF championship in 2004 (left- and right-handed) and won the European Championship the same year. After a left-hand vendetta match with Alexey Semerenko (winning 4–2) and Travis Bagent (losing 5–1) in 2005, Voyevoda took a break from his professional arm wrestling career to return to bobsleigh training until 2007. As of 2007, Alexey Voyevoda returned to the arm wrestling scene once again, winning a vendetta match 6–0 against Michael Todd in Bulgaria on 26 May. After that brief comeback, he resigned from the arm wrestling scene due to his bobsleigh and Olympic judo training until February 2016. In February 2016 Voevoda decided to return to arm wrestling and faced Tim Bresnan, but failed to produce the skills and power he once had, ultimately losing the fight 5-1.

Politics

Following the September 2016 elections in Russia, Voyevoda became a state deputy from

Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (russian: Краснода́рский край, r=Krasnodarsky kray, p=krəsnɐˈdarskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and administratively a part of ...

, representing the ruling party,

United Russia United Russia ( rus, Единая Россия, Yedinaya Rossiya, (j)ɪˈdʲinəjə rɐˈsʲijə) is a Russian conservative political party. As the largest party in Russia, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the State Duma , havin ...

Personal life

Voyevoda is a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

References

External links

Armpower.net
News, Armpower magazine, Vendetta, pictures, ranking, links etc.
Bobsleigh four-man Olympic medalists for 1924, 1932–56, and since 1964World of Armwrestling
News, videoclips, pictures, profiles, results, tournament calendar, ranking, links etc.
Photo Gallery and forumVideos with Alexey Voevoda
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voyevoda, Alexey 1980 births 21st-century Russian politicians Living people People from Chernihiv Oblast Russian male bobsledders Russian arm wrestlers United Russia politicians Olympic medalists in bobsleigh Bobsledders at the 2006 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 2010 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic bobsledders of Russia Olympic silver medalists for Russia Olympic bronze medalists for Russia Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Russian sportsperson-politicians Competitors stripped of Winter Olympics medals Recipients of the Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" II class Russian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in bobsleigh Seventh convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) People from Varva, Chernihiv Oblast