Soviet weightlifter Vasily Aleckseyev impressed Munich and Montreal audiences by lifting his way to the Unlimited Class championship. His efforts earned him a total of 3 gold medals. But it seemed his bigger efforts came at mealtimes. The super athlete had a daily diet that included 36 eggs for breakfast, 6 steaks and 21 pints of beer for lunch, and another 6 juicy steaks and 21 beers for dinner!

Lasse Viren from Finland defended both his 5,000
and 10,000 meters titles from Munich. Later he tried
to match the achievement of the great Emil Zatopek from
1952 by entering the first Marathon of his life and attempting
an unbelievable triple. But he managed only a 5th place finish.


Boris Onichenko, a Soviet modern-Pentethlete, found an
interesting way to score points in his fencing duals, by
installing a short-cut device within his sword. He was
disqualified but at least earned himself a nickname, Boris Dis-Onichenko.