Vladimir Golovanov: Training for the Olympics in Tokyo

History in Color:
Moscow, Russia, USSR, 1964– Vladimir Golovanov, 25-year old mid heavyweight of Khabarovsk, Russia, performs snatches at the training camp of the Soviet national weightlifting team while preparing for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

In a few months, Golovanov won a gold Olympic medal in Tokyo. On his way to the Olympic gold, he bypassed such legends of Olympic weightlifting as Louis Martin of Great Britain (silver medal) and Ireneusz Palinski of Poland (bronze medal) and won with the 487.5 kg total.

Vladimir Golovanov (1939-2003) competed in the 90kg and 110kg classes for the Army Sports Club of Khabarovsk, Russia. In the national tournaments, he won the USSR championships in 1964 and 1969. On the international arena, besides the 1964 Summer Olympics, Vladimir Golovanov won gold medals at the World Championship (1964) and European Championship (1964). In his career, Vladimir Golovanov set 6 world records. 5 were in the press lift.

Golovanov was a member of the Club 500. His personal best in total was  565kg (197.5+160+207.5) that he reached when he won a bronze medal in the 110kg at the 1972 USSR Championships in Tallinn.