Leonid Taranenko

Olympic medalist
Taranenko at Moscow Olympics, 1980
Medal record
Men's Weightlifting
Competitor for the Soviet Union
Olympic Games
Gold	1980 Moscow	110 kg
World Weightlifting Championships
Bronze	1979 Saloniki	110kg
Gold	1980 Moscow	110kg
Silver	1987 Ostrava	+110kg
Gold	1990 Budapest	+110kg
European Weightlifting Championships
Gold	1980 Beograd	110kg
Silver	1985 katowice	+110kg
Silver	1986 Karl-Marx-Stadt	+110kg
Gold	1988 Cardiff	+110kg
Bronze	1990 Aalborg	+110kg
Gold	1991 Wladyslawowo	+110kg
USSR Weightlifting Championships
Bronze	1977 Ratov Na Donu	110kg
Gold	1979 Leningrad	110kg
Gold	1983 Moscow	110kg
Gold	1987 Arkhangelsk	+110kg
Bronze	1989 Frunze	+110kg
Summer Spartakiad of the USSR
Gold	1979 Leningrad	110kg
Gold	1983 Moscow	110kg
Cup of the USSR
Gold	1981 Donetsk	110kg Snatch
Gold	1981 Donetsk	110kg Total
Gold	1982 Moscow	110kg Snatch
Gold	1982 Moscow	110kg Clean and Jerk
Gold	1982 Moscow	110kg Total
Gold	1986 Lipetsk	+110kg Snatch
Gold	1986 Lipetsk	+110kg Clean and Jerk
Gold	1986 Lipetsk	+110kg Total
Competitor for the Unified Team
Olympic Games
Silver	1992 Barcelona	+110 kg
Competitor for Belarus
European Weightlifting Championships
Gold	1996 Stavanger	+110kg

Leonid Arkadevich Taranenko (Russian: Леонид Аркадьевич Тараненко, born June 13, 1956 in Malaryta, Byelorussian SSR) is a former Soviet/Belarusian weightlifter.

Weightlifting career

Taranenko in 1986.

Taranenko trained at VSS Uradzhai in Minsk. His first major success took place at the 1980 Olympics, when, competing for the USSR, he won the gold medal in the 110 kilogram class with a 422.5 kg total. He was unable to compete in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles due to the Soviet boycott. However, competing in the 1984 Friendship Games, Taranenko won the 110 kg class with a world record total of 442.5 kg, exceeding the winning total in Los Angeles (by Norberto Oberburger) by 52.5 kg.

After this, Taranenko moved up to the super-heavyweight class. Lifting in Canberra, Australia on November 26, 1988, he set a world record of 266.0 kg in the clean and jerk, and 475.0 kg in the total. Due to the restructuring of the competitive weight classes that took place in 1993 and 1998, these lifts are no longer recognized as the official world records. However, these remain the highest figures ever posted in competition.

In 1992, Taranenko represented the Unified Team at the Olympics in Barcelona. He took the silver medal in the super-heavyweight class with a total of 425.0 kg.

Taranenko's other victories include the 110 kg class titles at the 1980 World and European championships, and super-heavyweight titles at the 1990 World championship and 1988, 1991, and 1996 European championships.

Career bests

• Snatch: 210.0 kg in the class over 110 kg;
• Clean and jerk: 266.0 kg (official world record, though this record has been expunged due to restructuring of weight classes, however this is the largest amount ever lifted in competition);
• Total: 442.5 kg (200.0 + 242.5) 1984 in Varna in the class to 110 kg;
• Total: 475.0 kg (210.0 + 266.0), in Canberra, Australia on November 26, 1988, in the class over 110 kg.

External links

• World records and titles by Leonid Taranenko