Leonid Zhabotinsky, the Russian weight-lifter, is featured tonight in the series in which famous, sports personalities talk about themselves and their sports against the background of their own actions
Sheer physical strength has always attracted wonder and respect. Leonid Zhabotinsky - all 26-stone of him - first drew general attention at the Opening Ceremony of the Mexico Olympic Games, when he strode in front of the USSR team carrying their massive banner with one hand. Already Olympic, World, European, and Russian weight-lifting champion in the heavyweight class, Zhabotinsky added another gold medal to his impressive store in Mexico.
This programme, largely filmed in the USSR, at this year's Russian championships and in Zhabotinsky's home town of Zaporozhie, shows him in competition; at home, and at play, with baby Villen (after V. I. Lenin) and 7-year-old Ruslan
(Colour)