Vlassov was the first weight-lifter to lift a 200 kg bar in the snatch. He achieved this feat in 1960 in Rome, where he won his first Olympic title.Vlassov's colossal physique hid a soft hearted engineer who dreamed of becoming a poet. Alas his Olympic successes were not enough to make a name for himself in literature, so he went on lifting weights.He did so well that he won five world titles and thirty-one world records. It is hard to believe that that wasn't his true vocation!