Topic: News: Sport Lifts Seniors' Spirits

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Sport Lifts Seniors' Spirits: 8 Russians share weighty ambitions
By Snejanna Farberov

Stepping onto a low platform, Alexander Avanesov effortlessly snatched a 100-pound barbell and in a single motion lifted it high over his head, then let the crushing weight drop with a loud thud.

Avanesov is part of a unique group of eight Russian immigrants for whom weightlifting is more than just a hobby - it is a way to prove to the world that being over the hill does not mean being under it.

"The age ... lowers our [capabilities], but people don't want to get old and try to preserve the skills they have," said Avanesov, who has dedicated 54 of his 70 years to the sport and can lift a 220-pound barbell as if it were made of aluminum foil.

The eight silver-haired athletes range from "young" beginners, like opera singer Mikhail Berezovsky, 51, who began weightlifting in earnest two years ago, to seasoned professional athletes, like Arnold Khalfin - a member of the weightlifting hall of fame and a 17-time national and world champion who serves as the unofficial trainer of the group.

Khalfin was working in the jewelry manufacturing business, but his health began to waver, he said, so he decided to "single-mindedly train," as he had in his youth.

"I only gained from this," he said.

The senior lifters practice three times a week, rain or shine, at the cramped gym at the Shorefront YM-YWHA on Brighton Beach, touted as only one of two locations in New York that offer professional weightlifting equipment. The athletes repeatedly expressed their frustration at the limited space and the state of the lifting platform, which needs constant maintenance and repair.

"We've certainly made our facilities as welcoming as we possibly can to this group of extraordinary sportsmen, and we have helped them to be able to access our facilities for their training, said Shorefront Y executive director Susan Fox. "Unfortunately ... the amount of space used for weightlifting takes up a pretty big percentage of the room."

Despite the differences in their ages and experience, all the members of the Shorefront octet continue to compete on the senior circuit, capturing titles in championships at home and abroad, including the prestigious Senior Olympic Games.

"I have spent a minimum of $30,000 traveling to competitions around the world, but my wife tells me that money is not the most important thing," said Khalfin.

During this year's U.S. National Master's Championship in El Paso, Tex., Avanesov and Berezovsky were crowned champions in their weight categories, while Vladimir Heifetz, who became a weightlifter after his retirement two years ago, proudly took home the bronze.

Weightlifting, a sport that requires special equipment and intensive training, has been on the back burner in the U.S. for many years now, losing the popularity contest to such longtime all-American favorites as baseball and basketball.

Avanesov contended that many of today's young athletes who might be interested in taking up weightlifting often lack the patience and stamina necessary to methodically develop their skills.

That is why, he said, some resort to the use of illegal substances, in the mistaken hope that injections and pills would rocket them straight to the top of the medalists' podium.

"Whoever was using steroids among our athletes doesn't compete anymore, and our senior competitions are a great example of this principle," said Avanesov. "If a person has ever taken steroids in the past, he won't be able to show anything for himself because he's a wreck."