David Rigert

David Adamovich Rigert was born on 12 March 1947 in Nagornoye, in the North Kazakhstan region of the Kazakh SSR. His ancestors had settled in Russia in the 18th century. His parents, Adam Adamovich Rigert and Yelizaveta Rudolfovna Horn, were Russian Germans: at the start of the Second World War his father was sent to the Urals as a forced labourer and his mother and the children were deported to northern Kazakhstan, where David was born, one of nine children.

In 1964 the family returned to the Kuban region near the Caucasus. There he first trained with a home-made barbell. He boxed at first, but Yury Vlasov's Olympic victory in 1960 drew him to weightlifting, and from 1966 he trained on his own using the methods of the champion Arkady Vorobyov.

While serving in the Soviet Army, Rigert earned the title Master of Sport of the USSR in 1968. After demobilisation he trained in Armavir, and in 1969 the coach Rudolf Plyukfelder invited him to Shakhty, where he trained at the Trud sports society and worked as a coal miner. Eleven months later, in 1970, he joined the Soviet national team and won bronze at the World Championships in Columbus, Ohio. In November 1970 he set his first world record at the RSFSR Championships in Volgograd.

Rigert went on to win world titles at 90 kg in 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1976, and at 100 kg in 1978, along with nine European titles and five Soviet championships. After a disappointing performance at the 1972 Munich Olympics, he won every competition he entered in 1973 and took Olympic gold at Montreal in 1976. At the 1980 Moscow Olympics he dropped to the 90 kg class, tore a leg muscle after cutting weight rapidly and failed to register a total. Over his career he set more than 60 world records: Russian reports cite 63, and some record keepers count 65, a total surpassed only by Vasily Alekseyev.

After retiring he graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physical Culture and became a coach. He was head coach of the Soviet national team from 1985 to 1987 and later head coach of the Russian team, including at the 2004 Athens Olympics. In Taganrog he ran a construction business, built about 100 sports facilities, founded a weightlifting academy named after him in 1999 and later ran a farm. He was elected to the Taganrog City Duma in 2004 and re-elected in 2009. He also wrote a memoir, Noble Metal, published in 1987.

Rigert was married to Nadezhda, a former competitive javelin thrower. They had three sons, Viktor, Vladislav and Denis, all of whom became competitive weightlifters; Vladislav later worked as a strength and conditioning coach in professional hockey. Rigert spoke openly in interviews about having smoked since the age of 11. He was known in Russia for his strength of will, and the Olympic champion Alexei Petrov once called him the god of the barbell whom he had worshipped since childhood.

David Rigert died on Monday 26 October 2026, aged 79, after a long illness. His death was announced by the Weightlifting Federation of Russia and reported by RIA Novosti, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Fontanka and other Russian media. The federation described him as a man of unbending will and rare diligence and said his triumphs would remain a guide for future generations. The place of death and the specific illness were not made public, and funeral arrangements had not been reported at the time of writing.

Rigert is regarded as one of the greatest weightlifters of all time and one of the most prolific record breakers in strength sport. He was inducted into the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame in 1999. His honours included the Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1976), the Order of Friendship (2007), the title Honoured Master of Sport of the USSR, Honoured Coach of the USSR and of Russia, and honorary citizenship of the Rostov region, Taganrog, Grozny and Chornomorsk. The weightlifting academy he founded in Taganrog continues to carry his name.