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Ivan Abadzhiev: Very Heavy Weightlifting

by Yelena Vaytsehovskaya, November 1999

Translation by Arthur Chidlovski

http://www.chidlovski.net/liftup/a_interview_abadzhiev_111999.asp

TOP VICTORY

Abadzhiev became a legend in the world of Olympic weightlifting.

Bulgaria that was never especially distinguished in sports began to

challenge the Soviet Union. And it happened in the sports of

weightlifting. At the 1976 Olympics, Abadzhiev's team won two gold,

three silver and one bronze medal. Four years later, they brought two

golds, four silvers and two bronzes from Moscow.

There were different interpretations. Some said that Bulgarian

training methods didn't make any sense - no diversity in training, no

basic training, no conditioning. Only weightlifting. Maximum weights

to be lifted in the training. Someone came up with the saying: " Had

Paganini instead of playing violin 15 hours a day played also a

flute, he would have never become the greatest. " There were talks

about Bulgarian lifters using banned anabolic substances. Although,

everybody knew that the Soviets were following the pharmacological

prescriptions with the same extend.

The real panic came in 1984 when all Eastern Bloc countries followed

the USSR's boycott of the Olympics in Los Angeles and went on with

the alternative Friendship Cup. Bulgarians won in six weight classes,

the Soviet Union in four classes. After that Abadzhiev was told to

resign by the Bulgarian sports committee. The coach refused.

- I said " Why? Because we won over the USSR? " I knew the answer

anyway. I heard the conversation between the IWF General Secretary

and our sports deputy. It was about that it's not good that two

countries are so far ahead of the other countries. It slows down the

progress of the Olympic weightlifting overall.

Of course, the actual meaning was that the USSR is a big and powerful

country and it's acceptable that they are so far ahead in sports. But

it wasn't allowed for some Bulgaria. Everybody knew that when

Bulgarians beat the Russians, it was beyond the sports and it had a

political context. I realized quiet clearly that the main goal that

the Soviet weightlifting authorities had wasn't the World and

European championships but to win over Bulgaria. But we kept winning.

In that conversation with the General Secretary, he asked me: " Is it

OK that only one country keeps winning? " Of course, I said: " It's not

OK " He jumped and even began to kiss me.

Four years later, before the Olympics in Seoul, Abadzhiev was

approached by one of the top sports officials in Bulgaria. " That's

it. You can only win two gold medals. If you win three, they will

chop your head off. And mine too. "

THE DARK SIDE OF THE OLYMPICS

- I knew alot about the Soviet lifters' training, - says Abadzhiev. -

I knew that they were not as well prepared as we were. Of course,

your experts knew what was going on in our team. With all these said,

the IWF was helping the Russians. No one helped us. But even I

couldn't understand why your officials predicted five gold medals for

the Russian team.

- For the whole world, the Olympics in Seoul were associated with the

weightlifting scandal. Bulgarian lifters were disqualified and the

whole team left for Bulgaria before the end of the competitions.

- It was a very strange story. In Bulgaria as well as in the USSR, we

had local doping control tests before competitions. We made over 50

tests. And despite this, they began to catch our lifters with the

furocemide. It belongs to the diuretics. At that time we studied how

it worked. We did research how it shows in test results by hours. It

was practically impossible to detect it 72 hours after you took it.

However, according to the Seoul tests we had a monster load detected

via those tests. Needless to say that positive tests were shown in

the weight classes where we were competing against the Soviet

athletes. For example, Mitko Grablev was disqualified and Oxen

Mirzoyan got the gold medal. After Angel Genchev tested positive,

Israel Militosyan got the first place. And their lifters were weaker.

And in the classes where the Soviet lifters didn't compete, Bulgarian

tests were clean.

When the scandal just started to take place, we decided to set up a

meeting with the Soviet delegation. We met in the park - we were

afraid of microphones and that someone will tape the conversation.

Bulgarian chairman asked Marat Gramov to help and to do the tests of

Bulgarians in the Russian lab. They lied to us. They said there was

no Soviet lab there. It was there. It was on the boat. I knew it for

sure............

....THE SECRET OF A MASTER

In Atlanta, Suleymanoglu won his third gold Olympic medal. Halil

Mutlu also became a champion. It was two gold medals versus one

silver and two bronze medals of Bulgaria. " What did you want the most

at the time? " I asked Abadzhiev in Athens. " I wanted to win over

Bulgaria. Least of all I expected that they will offer me to come

back and that I will not turn the offer down.

- Why?

- I was mad at them. I could have left Bulgaria long before the

Seoul. But I couldn't even think about it. I thought that my

methodology was our national treasure. That's why I kept it in secret

for so many years.

- What about now?

- Not now. Too many Bulgarian coaches and lifters are working all

over the world. And then it's too late. Though when I just started to

work on it, they called me a mad man.

- Because of your methodology?

- It wasn't like any other system in the world. It contradicted every

basic principles. In Bulgaria, many other sports disciplines are

build on the methods developed by the Soviet experts. The main

concept is distinct periodization, preparation stage, interim stage,

competition stage... I threw it away at once. When a rabbit is being

chased by the wolf, does he have an interim stage for running? Yes,

he can hide in the bushes but he is ready to start running 100

percent at any time. Is it logical to achieve outstanding results by

hard work and then to stop and to go back to a lower level?

I began to think about it and then I saw a very interesting research

study of Swedish scientists. You know each muscle consists of various

textures. The fast ones - the ones that the lifters need the most,

and the slow ones. Under certain training intensity, the slow ones

can turn into the fast ones and the other way around. The first

process requires a long-term work and high intensity, the latest

happens instantly... just decrease the intensity. That's what happens

in the interim stage.

- But it's very hard to train with a constant high intensity and

stress.

- And how about the adaptation theory? It's a science by the way: if

you place a body into a certain environment, it begins to adapt to it.

- Too tough.

- Professional sport is a tough activity overall.

- But Olympic weightlifting is not the sport where competitions go

one after another one. I know that the Russian lifters have three to

four competitions per year.

- I tried to set up as many competitions for my lifters as I could.

Even in the old times, when our team was definitely the best in the

world, we had nine to ten competitions per season. The first one was

always the national championship. We mixed the big sports

competitions with the commercial ones. So, the lifters had a better

motivation.

- Do you have any dreams as a coach?

- I don't have dreams anymore. I stopped to enjoy competitions. I

think there is a limit for neurological reserves. My heart hurt. I am

tired of arguing with young coaches who at first don't want to listen

and then couldn't understand why they underachieve in the results.

Besides, I am not sure if I can achieve more than what I already did.

For example, there won't be a lifter able to make a three-bodyweight

lift. Shalamanov whose bodyweight was less than 60 kilo could do it.

He cleaned 202 kilos. It was over 10 years ago. I was very proud of

him. It's very different in Bulgaria now. We had to sell the whole

team to Qatar in order to finance the one that was left. And I am

still not happy with the world championship results. We have a world

champion - Galabin Boevsky. He won both lifts, set world records in

total and clean-and-jerk. But in training he lifted much more. Two

month before the championship, he relatively easy cleaned-and-jerked

205 kilos.

- Do you think that the lifters should always lift their maximum

weights on the platform?

- It's a good question. On the one hand, I don't like heroics - it's

just too easy to get an injury. Boevsky simply didn't lift what he

was ready for. Many people blame me that I overload lifters in the

training. 15-20 kilos more than needed for the win. They say that

it's enough to lift 2.5 kilos more than your opponent does and you

are a champion. What is 2.5 kilos? Nothing. You get a light cold

before the competition or a small injury and that's all. Someone else

will win. Even if you win, 2.5-5 kilos doesn't give you any

psychological advantage. But I am tired to argue. After Sydney, I'll

quit the weightlifting.

- And then what?

- That's it. I am very old. I don't think I will live much longer.

- I used to know one old lady who all her life, up to when she turned

105, lived in a small village, had a small farm and a cow. And then

decided that she is too old for early morning wake-up, farm work. She

gave her cow to the neighbors. And then she died in a few months.

- When a person stops to work intensively - whatever he's doing - his

body looses it. He gets ill. But... I'll think about it. Maybe I will

keep my cow for a while.

--------------

Carruthers

Wakefield, UK

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