Rudolf Plyukfelder

{{Short description|Soviet weightlifter (1928–2026)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Rudolf Plyukfelder | image = Rudolf Plyukfelder Tokyo 1964.jpg | image_size = | caption = Plyukfelder at the 1964 Olympics | birth_date = {{birth date text|6 September 1928}} | birth_place = Novoorlivka, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union | death_date = {{death date and age|24 April 2026|6 September 1928}} | death_place = Zierenberg, Hesse, Germany | height = {{convert|1.72|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | weight = {{convert|83|kg|lb|abbr=on}} | sport = Weightlifting | club = Trud Shakhty | alma_mater = | show-medals = yes | medaltemplates = {{MedalCountry|the Soviet Union}} {{MedalCompetition|Olympic Games}} {{MedalGold|1964 Tokyo|-82.5 kg}} {{MedalWorldChampionships}} {{MedalGold|1959 Warsaw| -82.5 kg}} {{MedalGold|1961 Vienna| -82.5 kg}} {{MedalSilver|1963 Stockholm| -82.5 kg}} {{MedalGold|1964 Tokyo| -82.5 kg}} }}

'''Rudolf Vladimirovich Plyukfelder''' ({{langx|ru|Рудольф Владимирович Плюкфельдер}}; 6 September 1928 – 24 April 2026) was a Soviet weightlifter and weightlifting coach. As a competitor he won world titles in 1959 and 1961 and an Olympic gold medal in 1964. As a coach he prepared a series of Olympic champions including Aleksey Vakhonin, Vasily Alekseyev, David Rigert, Nikolay Kolesnikov, Aleksandr Voronin and Viktor Tregubov.<ref name=sr>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200418055506/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/pl/rudolf-plyukfelder-1.html Rudolf Plyukfelder]. sports-reference.com</ref>

== Biography == Plyukfelder was born to a Russia Germans family in Ukraine. His father and older brother were put to death in 1941 when Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The rest of the family was sent to a labor camp in Siberia, where Plyukfelder started to work at a coal mine at the age of 14. As a hobby he tried track and field athletics and wrestling, in which he won the regional championships in 1948–49. He changed to weightlifting only in 1950 when he was already 22. Until 1962, when he moved to Rostov Oblast, he trained on his own, as there was no weightlifting coach in his area, yet he became the world's best light-heavyweight competitor, winning world titles in 1959 and 1961, European titles in 1959–61, and an Olympic gold in 1964. He also set eight official world records in 1969–1961: one in the press, five in the snatch, and two in the total.<ref name=chid>[http://www.chidlovski.net/liftup/l_galleryResult.asp?a_id=207 RUDOLF PLUKFELDER: Biography]. chidlovski.net</ref>

While competing, Plyukfelder coached some of his teammates, such as Aleksey Vakhonin whom he made an Olympic champion from scratch. He retired shortly after the 1964 Olympics and had a long and successful career as a coach in Shakhty, which he turned into a major Soviet weightlifting school.<ref name=sr/> In the early 1990s, due to a conflict with Vasily Alekseyev, he immigrated to Germany, where he had a large family of wife, three daughters and five grandchildren. He continued daily training with weights through his 90s, and won one masters world title in 1992, but decided not to compete again due to lack of interest in competitions. In 2000, aged 72 his results were as follows: squat – 160 kg, snatch – 100 kg, body weight – 93 kg. In 2018, aged 90, he routinely did 10 squat repetitions with 100 kg.<ref>Evgeny Malkov (2000). [http://www.olympic-weightlifting.ru/plukfelder0.htm Рудольф Плюкфельдер: "Мне больше не нужны никакие эксперименты"]. olympic-weightlifting.ru</ref><ref>Dmitry Klokov (2018) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIvuxaFrK5w НА РАВНЫХ LIFE с Дмитрием Клоковым / ПЛЮКФЕЛЬДЕР Рудольф Владимирович]. Youtube</ref>

Plyukfelder died in Zierenberg, Hesse, Germany on 24 April 2026, at the age of 97.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-04-28 |title=Умер олимпийский чемпион по тяжелой атлетике Рудольф Плюкфельдер |url=https://matchtv.ru/weightlifting/matchtvnews_NI2320411_Umer_olimpijskij_chempion_po_tazheloj_atletike_Rudolf_Plukfelder |access-date=2026-04-30 |website=MatchTV |language=ru}}</ref>

== Books == * {{cite book|author=Rudolf Plyukfelder|title=Металл и люди|url=http://olympic-weightlifting.ru/plukfelder.htm|place=Moscow|publisher=Fizkultura i sport|year=1966}} * {{cite book|author=Rudolf Plyukfelder|title=Чужой среди своих|url=http://www.olympic-weightlifting.ru/unedited_texts/plukf.htm|place=Moscow|publisher=Center of German Culture|year=2009|isbn=978-5-93227-013-4}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == * {{sports links}}

{{Footer Olympic Champions Weightlifting Light heavyweight}} {{Footer World Champions Weightlifting Men Light heavyweight}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plyukfelder, Rudolf}} Category:1928 births Category:2026 deaths Category:20th-century Russian sportsmen Category:Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Category:European champions in weightlifting Category:Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Category:Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Category:Olympic medalists in weightlifting Category:Olympic weightlifters for the Soviet Union Category:People from Donets Governorate Category:Recipients of the Order of the Badge of Honour Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Category:Russian male weightlifters Category:Russian people of German descent Category:Soviet male weightlifters Category:Soviet people of German descent Category:Weightlifters at the 1964 Summer Olympics Category:World record setters in weightlifting