The Barbell Shrugged crew got to interview Dmitry Klokov while he was at the USAW Nationals!
His English has really improved a lot!
- [2:30] “if you want to be a professional athlete you sometimes have to drink” (alcohol). On Saturday after training, sauna, massage.
- [9:00] biggest problem is his right shoulder. 2006 in prep for his 2nd world championships he Jerked 255kg from Rack (watch his 245kg Rack Jerk here)
- After 2016 he will definitely retire, after 22 years in the sport (started with 13 in 1995)
- April 2015 he will decide if he continues or not (he has to hit certain numbers 1 year before Rio)
- [51:30] “you can’t bring good technique if your muscles aren’t ready”
- on weak backs and his his deficit Deadlifts (see his accessory exercises here)
- [54:10] he doesn’t like blocks (“why make it easy for you?”)
- [57:00] the few lucky enough to get into the Russian national team get a minimum of $7000 per month salary (maximum up to $11-12000 )
- children are not selected to do certain sports in Russia
- [01:00:00] in terms of money he compares the situation old soviet Russia to the US’ situation now (in the sense that you had to train for yourself, not for money). That changed when Putin became president. Now athletes live very good.
Update: Sergey Syrtsov mentioned that he is pleased with the current funding situation (via):
During the past four years, funding has increased by 25 million rubles [$ 695,589.50 US]. FTAR [Russia Weightlifting Federation] In 2010, received 80 million rubles, and in 2014 – 105 million rubles [$ 2,921,475 US].
More Interviews with Dmitry:
- Dmitry on Radio Sport
- Dmitry on BodyTime (explaining why he likes Stiff Legged Deadlifts so Much)
- Dmitry Klokov’s On Par Interview Series with Ilya and co.
Update 21.08.2014: Dmitry commented on Rio 20161 on his vk:
“I’m not going to start there! I’m already too old for these games. I go it for myself”
The more I see Klokov, the more I love the guy.
dude, klokov is the fucking man. he handed out medals to the finishers at the US nationals!! WHILE WEARING HIS RUSSIA SHIRT!
weightlifting in the US is comin’ up boys
Is the a link to the video? And damn, he’s great.
He did it for the 62 class, here from ~12:50:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x9Kel_qsvk
I’m sorry, but I don’t believe these salary figures for a second. Those numbers would be outrageous for a weightlifter in a “rich” country like France or Germany but for Russia they’re simply absurd. Especially since WL – like he openly admits – is not that popular in Russia (anymore).
How could they afford this if there are only 30-50 lifters in the whole of Moscow? That speaks volumes about the popularity and implicit marketability of the sport.
Russia has very stark income inequality and is in many areas still a developing nation. The average salary for lawyers and doctors is around 1500$/month (slowly rising)! To earn five times that much for being merely a national level weightlifter (and not world/olympic champion) is nearly unbelievable.
Somebody should ask people like Mogushkov or Muratov if they earn anything near that. I have a suspicion they would laugh heartly.
I second that skepticism
Allow me to retort, Klokov said since Pitin started running thing athletes are doing better. They are actually getting paid. Google the prizes that ALL Russian medalist received after the Sochi Winter Olympics. The got Mercedez-Benz cars, all of them. There is actually picture of this giant lot filled with brand new Benzes. Russia got Oil money, this ain’t the 90’s anymore. France is rich? Don’t kid yourself. Russian soccer clubs spending top money on high level talent every year, that’s a fact. 7 grand for those who are on a National team, you make it sound like the are hundreds of them. There around 20 lifters that are on the team, give or take. After all, it’s Russia we are taking about. We all know that the guys aren’t good enough to be included I’m the squad would still be the strongest lifters in the states. 1500 dollars for a lawyer or a doctor?!!!???! ARE YOU ON SOMETHING??? I work in the kitchen and make more than that. Come on son!!!
Below are links to articles on Russia’s investment in sport and on prizes, including Mercedes, for Russia’s medalists in Sochi. If you look back at one of Klokov’s videos with Lapikov (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-e4m8W_DCQ), Klokov films Lapikov’s BMW that was one of the prizes received by Russia’s medalists in Beijing. The dash board bears an Olympic emblem. Even back in Atlanta (1996), I remember that Russian gold medalists received something in the neighborhood of $100,000 (but they did not get nearly the monthly salaries that Russia’s top athletes get today…Russia as an independent recently-post-Soviet sovereign nation was simply too young and disorganized at that point).
Regarding lawyers, those at decent law firms in Russia earn much, much more than $1,500 per month. I can’t speak about what small-time lawyers earn in Russia. I can add that a Russian law degree is roughly the equivalent of a bachelors degree in the United States. It is not the equivalent of a U.S. law degree (i.e., a juris doctor degree), so last I heard, Russian law graduates generally do not earn a whole lot immediately after graduation but their salaries go up pretty fast as they gain experience.
In any case, friends, what reason does Klokov have to lie about salaries for Russia’s top lifters? Recall Akkaev’s public vitriol when Syrtsov supposedly cut him off after London (http://rsport.ru/interview/20130531/665658753.html)? Now you can understand why Akkaev was so mad!
Bear in mind that Russia’s top athletes receive salary from several sources. They receive some salary on the federal level, some on the regional level and some on the local level. It can add up.
It should surprise nobody that Russia knows how to treat its top athletes. Occasionally politics
interfere and it can get very ugly, but that is another story.
http://en.ria.ru/sports/20110117/162183369.html
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/fourth-place-medal/russia-gives-all-its-gold-medalists–120-000–a-new-mercedes-174223357.html
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/495364.html
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/fourth-place-medal/what-different-countries-pay-their-olympians-who-bring-home-a-medal-034825947.html
P.S. Don’t know how much Mogushkov or Muratov receives. Bear in mind that neither has contended for a World or Olympic medal.
I like the casual demeanor, Klokov is the man and super chill. However, having one of the worlds best weightlifters on your show and talking about partying in Vegas seems like such a waste.
I find it difficult to listen to the Barbell Shrugged podcasts because of the inane prattling. Klokov’s (Cloakov? :D) English has progressed really well, but they didn’t make that many concessions for his tentative fluency by phrasing questions clearly or not talking over him.
Klokov seems to have endless energy though, think of the work he’s done with videos, seminars, travelling, coaching in the past year or so, he’s really opened up Russian weightlifting to the world.