Valery Shary

Valery Shary from Belarus took up weightlifting in 1964 and was selected to the Soviet national team in 1971 after winning the Soviet Cup in the light-heavyweight division. Shary first competed internationally at the 1972 Olympics, but failed to make a successful lift in the press. Aat the next Olympic Games, however, Shary was favored and did not disappoint, winning gold with an Olympic record. Shary was also the World and European light-heavyweight champion in 1975 and 1976. In 1978 Shary moved up to middle-heavyweight, but with less success, winning only silver in 1979 and bronze in 1980 at the Europeans. Domestically, Shary was Soviet light-heavyweight champion in 1975, 1977 and 1978 and Soviet middle-heavyweight champion in 1979. He also won the Soviet light-heavyweight cup in 1971 and Soviet middle-heavyweight cups in 1978 and 1979. Between 1971 and 1976 Shary set 14 light-heavyweight world records: one in the press, four in the snatch, three in the clean & jerk, and six in the total.

Shary retired from competition in 1980 after he was not selected for the Soviet Olympic team. During and after his sporting career Shary served in the Soviet Army and retired from the force as a major after Belarus became independent at the start of the 1990s. Shary has worked as a weightlifting coach in Belarus and took up weightlifting again, competing successfully in masters tournaments, becoming 2007 World heavyweight champion in the 60-64 age class.