Igor Nikitin

Igor Nikitin took up weightlifting in 1970 while serving with the Soviet army and rose to the Soviet national team in 1977. At international tournaments Nikitin won three silver medals in the sub-heavyweight class, at the 1980 Olympics, 1980 World Championships and 1978 European Championships. Domestically, Nikitin won a Soviet title in 1980 and bronze in 1977. In 1977 he also won the Soviet Cup. During his career Nikitin set five sub-heavyweight world records: three in the snatch, and two in the total. After finishing his sporting career in 1984, Nikitin continued to serve in the Army and, from 1984-94, when he retired from the force as a lieutenant colonel, he was head coach of the Soviet army weightlifting team. From 1994-98 Nikitin worked as head coach of the Russian national weightlifting team, leading them at the 1996 Olympics.