Word: alexeyev
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...wind was as swift as Carl Lewis, as strong as Vasily Alexeyev, and at least for a half, the Quincy House offense was as potent as 151-proof...
...While Alexeyev struggles with the snatch, Rakhmanov comes out and starts to warm up. Briskly, efficiently, he snatches one weight, orders it increased, then hoists again with equal ease. Still .young enough to curl his back and lift with supple grace, he has clearly surpassed Alexeyev. The room reverberates with the boom and clang of weights being banged back to earth. Rakhmanov takes no notice...
Then there is silence. Alexeyev has been called for the first of his three tries at the snatch. As discreetly as they can, the other lifters, coaches and officials scurry to the corner of the warm-up room, where a television set will show them the action out front. The silence is relieved only by the rasping puffs of lifters catching their breaths as they watch the TV monitor. Suddenly, something in the room drops with an ear-shattering crash. Heads jerk around. Rakhmanov alone is still warming up, oblivious to the fate of his teammate...
...Alexeyev tries to snatch the barbell weighing 396¾ Ibs. He hurls it up, but cannot get beneath the bar to hold it for the required one second. Down it comes with a bang. The crowd around the television drifts away. Rakhmanov's coach signals to him: "No lift." Alexeyev comes in, smiling, takes two minutes of rest and then tries again. Up and down once more. This time there is no smile when he returns. He goes to his corner, gulps a demitasse of strong black coffee, and heads out for the last time. Again he fails...
...with too great a weight, should he not have begun lower and worked his way up? His answer is almost imperious: "I was not interested in the lower weights. They would not have been enough for the gold medal, only silver or bronze." But this is not the end, Alexeyev insists: "I am an old and a very strong horse. You will see me again...