VASILY ALEXEYEV
Vasily Alexeyev, a Russian weightlifter, is captured in this photograph. He wasn’t as big as most super heavyweights, so his trainer encouraged him to add weight to gain strength when he was first starting out. Until 1968, Vasily Alexeyev had a personal coach.
VASILY ALEXEYEV
This photo was taken in January 1969, a year after Alexeyev made the decision to train alone. In 1970, he became the first man in history to clean and jerk 500 pounds in an official competition. He holds 80 world records and is widely regarded as the greatest weightlifter of all time.
ROBERTO CLEMENTE
Roberto Clemente began his baseball career in Puerto Rico, but the Brooklyn Dodgers noticed him and offered him a contract to play for one of their Triple-A affiliates. He had to adjust to a new climate and learn a new language after leaving his home country.
ROBERTO CLEMENTE
These challenges would not stump Clemente. In fact, he would go on to win the MVP award in 1966 as a baseball player. In a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Padres, he was photographed tracing a pitch. Unfortunately, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ star’s career was cut short in the same year when he died in a plane crash.
