Leonid Taranenko

Sport: Weightlifting

Born: 13 June 1956

Birthplace: Malorita, Brest Region

Honors:

Honored Master of Sport of the USSR, 1980

Order of Friendship of Peoples

Order of the Red Banner of Labor

Career highlights:

Gold, Olympic Games in Moscow, 1980

Silver, Olympic Games in Barcelona, 1992

Gold (110kg), Men's World Weightlifting Championships, 1980

Gold (+110kg), Men's World Weightlifting Championships, 1990

Gold (110kg), European Weightlifting Championships, 1980

Gold (+110kg), European Weightlifting Championships, 1988, 1991-1992

Gold, Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR, 1979, 1983

Gold, Friendship Games, 1984

Biography:

Leonid Taranenko was born in Malorita, Brest Region on 13 June 1956. When he was a teenager, coaches in weightlifting, throwing and wrestling competed to have him in their clubs. He eventually chose weightlifting. He joined a local weightlifting club set up by barbell athlete Piotr Satyuk. The guy liked training.

When all of a sudden his father died, his mother was left with two children to bring up – him and his younger brother. Leonid had to help his mother. After finishing school, he became a milling machine operator. But, to the delight of the coach, he did not give up the barbell. And soon he surpassed his coach. It was time to make up his mind what career to pursue. Leonid could no longer imagine his life without weightlifting.

His life changed dramatically on 18 February 1974, when he took part in the nationwide competition of the Uradzhai sports society in Borisov. Here he was spotted by Ivan Logvinovich.

Many considered Ivan Logvinovich a dreamer: the forty-year-old coach did not hide that his dream was to raise an Olympic champion. But first, he had to find a talented young athlete who would also believe in this dream. And Leonid Taranenko was exactly the one the coach had been looking for.

Fortunately, by the time they started their journey towards their dream, weightlifting in Belarus had overcome a protracted crisis and begun to make some progress. The coach did a great job guiding the athlete on his path towards their common goal. Their routine was planned with nearly computer accuracy and precision. They planned to win an Olympic gold in 1980 and went to it with mathematical consistency.

In 1977, Leonid Taranenko lifted 213kg in the clean and jerk in the heavyweight class. The total weight he lifted was 380kg, a new record for the country.

After a year of intense, innovative training the Belarusian strongman lifted 222.5kg in the second attempt at the Soviet Union championship in Kiev. That was quite an achievement! Nevertheless, he did not make it to the podium. The rising star stepped into the spotlight six months later. At the BSSR Cup in November, Leonid Taranenko made his claim to international fame lifting 180kg in the snatch (national record), 230kg in the clean and jerk and 410kg in the total (national record). It was a challenge to the strongest weightlifters of the heavyweight class.

In 1979 Leonid Taranenko won the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR and finished third at the world championships. In May 1980, Leonid broke two world records at the European championships.

On 29 July 1980 the Izmailovo Sports Palace in Moscow hosted the Men's Heavyweight II Weightlifting Event (– 110kg) at the 1980 Olympic weightlifting tournament. Our countryman easily defeated his main rival - the outstanding Bulgarian athlete Valentin Khristov. His brilliant success was crowned with two world records: 240kg in the clean and jerk, and 422.5kg in the total, ahead of his rival by 17.5kg.

After the 1980 Olympics, Leonid Taranenko missed the 1982 world championships in Moscow due to a sudden serious illness. Several complicated operations followed. The athlete's courage and endurance delighted Moscow doctors, he managed to pull through and to return to the spotlight.

He was victorious at the 1984 Friendship Games. At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, ​​he won a silver medal in the super-heavyweight class.

He set several world records, some of which have not been broken so far. The Guinness World Records contain his world record of 266kg in the clean and jerk and 475kg in the total, which was set in Canberra, Australia in November 1988.

In 1996, Leonid Taranenko retired from sport. He currently works in Minsk as a sports consultant and coach.