The first all-in wrestling Olympic champion in the 100 kg category at the Munich games in '72, Yarigin was dropped from the Soviet team after a defeat at the European championships in '74.Deprived of international competition for a year, Yarigin was left champing at the bit and trained hard. His effort was rewarded with success at the Montreal games in '76 when, having made it back into the Russian team, he picked up his second gold medal.