Born on the same day – Olympic champion at the same time
What a coincidence; even though Petr Korol and Valery Shariy were not born the same year, they were both born on the 2nd of January. They became Olympic gold medallists in Montreal at the 1976 Olympic Games as members of the Soviet team. Korol, who was born in 1941 – already passed away – achieved his gold medal in the men’s 67,5 kg while Shariy who celebrates his 70th birthday today, became champion in the men’s 82,5 kg.
Other matching point is that they both became world champions more than once and set world records in their own categories. For the record, the Soviet weightlifting team achieved outstanding results in Montreal. At that time, men won Gold Medals in seven bodyweight categories out of the available nine.
Happy Birthday to Valery Shariy!
