Konstantine Starikovitch was born in Russia but moved to the United States in 1991. Starikovitch became a naturalized US citizen on 12 April 1996, only a few months before the Atlanta Olympics. It was not certain if he would be allowed to compete for the US in 1996 because he was not a US citizen when he set his qualifying mark for the Olympic Trials and had not registered for the drug-testing protocol in time. However, after appeals Starikovitch was allowed to compete and made the 1996 US Olympic Team. Starikovitch continued his weightlifting career in the US despite a construction accident in which he had the ring finger of his right hand partially amputated.
United States