Alexander Kolodlov: Unsung Hero of Weightlifing from Kazakhstan
Alexander Kolodkov is definitely an unsung hero of Olympic weightlifting.
When the international federation scheduled a sunset of an Olympic press lift after the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, there were number of outstanding athletes who managed to set eternal world records to stay forever and never to be broken.
Of all the authors of eternal records in 1972, Alexander Kolodkov was probably a least known person that happened to be among these athletes. On March 19, 1972, 25-year old Kolodkov pressed 166.5kg in the 75kg and set an “eternal” world record in the middleweight class.
Holder of several World records, vice champion of the USSR, Alexander Kolodkov (1947-2014) of Alma Ata, Kazakhstan was a superb presser of his time.
Alexander was born in Kyzyl Orda, Kazakhstan. Kolodkov competed for the Spartak club in Alma Ata under the guidance of his coach Salyam Auzhanov. Later on, both went on to the Dynamo club.
Weightlifting experts saw a great potential in Kolodkov and some even foresaw him as the “upcoming new Kurentsov” of Soviet Olympic weightlifting. Needless to say, his strongest lift was press and his press specialization in training created some techniques problems in the dynamic lifts. Kolodkov had a rather limited exposure to the international tournaments with Team USSR. On the national level, Kolodkov reached a top 5 level on a few occasions and won a silver medal at the 1972 USSR Championships in Tallinn, Estonia with a total of 477.5kg (165+132.5+180). Viktor Kurentsov also finished with a 477.5kg total and won a gold medal because of a lighter bodyweight.
His younger brother, Vasily Mazheykov (1948-2020) competed in the 110kg and won a silver medal at the 1975 World Championships.