Ivan Abadzhiev: Very Heavy Weightlifting
by Yelena Vaytsehovskaya, November 1999
Translation by Arthur Chidlovski
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
Here, there is a small paragraph referring to drugs…
…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.