Andrey Chemerkin (b. 1972) was considered the "World's Strongest Man" in the 1990's. He began to lift weights at an early age and it didn't take long for him to develop into a world class weightlifter. Chemerkin won junior world titles in 1991-1992 and senior world championships in 1995, 1997-1999.

The peak of his career in weightlifting definitely belongs to the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996 when he became an Olympic champion in a super heavyweight. At the 1996 Olympics, Chemerkin weighed 364 pounds, enormous even for weightlifting's unlimited division. He has continued adding weight -- at the 1999 World Championships, he tipped the scales at 400 pounds. His philosophy was that the heavier was his bodyweight, the easier it was to conquer the heavier weights. Chemerkin was the heaviest man ever to win the Olympics.

From the prospective of lifting techniques, his snatch was rather average. It was his outstanding clean-and-jerk that let him rule the super heavyweight division at the international competitions in the 1990's. Besides his successful career in sports, Chemerkin works as a police officer in his home town. In 2000, Chemerkin won his second Olympic medal in a super heavyweight in Sydney.