Ivan Poddubny
| Ivan Poddubny | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Birth name | Ivan Maximovich Poddubny |
| Born |
9 October 1871 Krasenivka, Zolotonosha Uyezd, Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire (now Chornobai Raion, Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine) |
| Died | 8 August 1949 (aged 77) Yeysk, Yeysk region, Krasnodar Krai, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Spouse(s) | Antonina Kvitko-Khomenko (1909–20), Mariya Mashoshyna (1923–49) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | The Champion of Champions, Ivan The Terrible, The Russian Hercules |
| Billed height | 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) |
| Billed weight | 120 kg (260 lb) |
| Trained by | Eugène de Paris |
| Debut | 1896 |
| Retired | 1941 |
Ivan Maximovich Poddubny, Piddubny (Russian: Ива́н Максимович Подду́бный, Ukrainian: Іва́н Максимович Підду́бний; 9 October [O.S. 26 September] 1871 – 8 August 1949) was a Ukrainian professional wrestler from the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union. He began his sports career around 1900; his career lasted for about forty years and he lost only two times.
Poddubny was born on John the Apostle day in 1871 into a family of Zaporozhian Cossacks in the village of Krasenivka, in the Zolotonosha county (uyezd) of the Poltava Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Chornobai Raion of Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine). Having a big family Piddubny senior had a difficult time to provide for his big family, therefore Ivan was forced to leave the father's house before turning 20. As a young man, Poddubny worked as a fitter in the ports of Sevastopol and Feodosiya for seven years earning a nickname of Ivan the Great. In Feodosiya Ivan started to practice with kettlebells and participated in some wrestling fights. Sometime since 1897-1898 he started traveling with circus tours and performed at first Sevastopol and later Kiev arenas.
Sometime in 1903 Piddubny joined the Saint Petersburg Athletic Club with which he participated in World Championships in Moscow and Paris. In 1905 he became the World Champion in wrestling in Paris and later toured Italy, Algeria, Belgium, Berlin, winning a championship in Nice. In 1906 Piddubny won two more World Cups in Paris and Milan. Before returning back to his home in Krasenivka in 1910, he also won several more world cups in Vienna, Paris, and Frankfurt.
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