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Leonid Taranenko

Leonid Taranenko
RIAN archive 484445 Winners of the weightlifting competition in the 1980 Olympics.jpg
Taranenko (center) at Moscow Olympics, 1980
Personal information
Born (1956-06-13) June 13, 1956 (age 60)
Malaryta, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union

Leonid Arkadevich Taranenko (Russian: Леонид Аркадьевич Тараненко, born June 13, 1956) is a former Soviet/Belarusian weightlifter. His 266 kg clean and jerk in 1988 is still the largest amount ever lifted in competition, though no longer an official world record due to restructuring of weight classes.

Taranenko trained at VSS Uradzhai in Minsk. His first major success took place at the 1980 Olympics, when, competing for the Soviet Union, he won the gold medal in the 110 kilogram class with a 422.5 kg total. He was unable to compete in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles due to the Soviet boycott. However, competing in the 1984 Friendship Games, Taranenko won the 110 kg class with a world record total of 442.5 kg, exceeding the winning total in Los Angeles (by Norberto Oberburger) by 52.5 kg.

After this, Taranenko moved up to the super-heavyweight class. Lifting in Canberra, Australia on November 26, 1988, he set a world record of 266.0 kg in the clean and jerk, and 475.0 kg in the total. Due to the restructuring of the competitive weight classes that took place in 1993 and 1998, these lifts are no longer recognized as the official world records. However, these remain the highest figures ever posted in competition.

In 1992, Taranenko represented the Unified Team at the Olympics in Barcelona. He took the silver medal in the super-heavyweight class with a total of 425.0 kg.


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