The athlete weightlifter from the Volgograd region Mikhail Shevchenko has already completed his career. But his Russian record in the snatch of the bar still does not succumb to any of the athletes. At the same time, politics prevented him from going to the Olympics.
Biography
Mikhail Vadimovich Shevchenko was born in the city of Petrov Val (Volgograd Region) in 1975. He went in for sports from early childhood, his father and older brother took him with them to classes so that the boy would not hang out idle. Young Mikhail did not always like this - at the age of 6-8 years old he wants to run and chat with friends on the street. He tried in every possible way to get away from training, but his relatives "caught" him and took him directly from the street to the hall. So he began to practice the barbell, and at the age of six he "raised the stick", honing the technique on it.
Later, Mikhail tried himself in other sports. He attended football and judo sections for some time. But he decided nevertheless to choose a weightlifter's career - in his hometown, this was the most promising direction for athletes. His first mentor was V. Lebedev. Weightlifters lived a busy life - often held competitions, trips to other cities.
Mikhail still remembers his first competitions. They were held in Volgograd, and luck was not on his side. Opponent Shevchenko ahead of him by 15 kilograms and raised the barbell to 45 kg. The outcome of the competition Shevchenko angered in a good way, and within a month he was able to take first place.
Sports career
Mikhail was noted as a promising athlete, he quickly grabbed everything, everything worked out for him almost immediately. At 15, he fulfilled all the standards necessary for the title of master of sports. At 19, he became an international class MC.
Like any athlete, Mikhail’s childhood and youth passed on the road: competitions, training camps, demonstrations. Quite early, he began to travel everywhere alone, which contributed to the expansion of his circle of friends and acquaintances. Sometimes he did not have time to catch a train and stayed at the station. Spent the night at acquaintances of sellers or employees of video salons who were popular at that time.
Mikhail performed in super lightweight, and his dimensions did not always inspire confidence among others. Many could not understand how a young man weighing 56 kg and a height of 157 cm can take such a weight. Constant explanations to Mikhail Shevchenko soon got tired and he came up with a phrase that removed all the questions of new acquaintances: "I’m engaged in chess."
Mikhail analyzed the information well and determined his main rivals before the start of the competition. He watched them during warm-ups and training sessions and understood who should be paid special attention to.
Weightlifting is a sport that from the outside does not seem too traumatic. But in reality, this is not so. In the bar, fractures and dislocations, sprains, and torn ligaments are frequent. Michael injuries are also not spared. At 25, he did not attach importance to the tear of the ligaments of the hip joint and continued active training. This led to the fact that in order to continue his career, an operation was required, and after it an eight-month recovery.
Mikhail Shevchenko set his still unbeaten jerk record (120 kg 500 g) with an injury - he dropped a barbell on his leg in training. But in the end he performed brilliantly and is still the champion of Russia in super lightweight (56 kg) in this discipline.
Weightlifters finish performing in 31-32 years. Mikhail Shevchenko remained in sports until the age of 37. At that time, there were very few young athletes in the Russian bar, so the coaching staff persuaded him to spend the next season. And so it went on for several years - there was no replacement, I had to speak. Shevchenko was in the national team for 18 years, from 1992 to 2010.
Achievements
By the end of his career, Mikhail Shevchenko became the famous 14-time champion of Russia. His Russian record in the snatch has been holding for about 10 years, the weight of 120.5 kg has not yet been submitted to any athlete.
In 1997, he managed to get bronze at the European Championship, which was then held in Croatia. His result was 245 kg (115 and 130), and the Russian athlete for the first time in 15 years was able to earn a medal in this weight category.
Despite all the indispensability, Mikhail was never able to get to the Olympics. Although he had a chance - after the bronze in Croatia, the coach told him to prepare for competitions in Atlanta. But politics intervened - from above came a recommendation to include in the national team a Chechen weightlifter from the category up to 64 kg. After the Olympics, coach I.I. Nikitin wrote: "It was necessary to take Shevchenko."
Khalil Mutlu, Turkish weightlifter.
Mikhail considers his idol Khalil Mutlu, a Turkish weightlifter, whom he managed to meet at one of the championships.
