Rare Memorial Award presented by Arnold Schwarzenegger to legendary Ukrainian weightlifter Leonid Zhabotinsky at the 2004 Arnold Classics in Columbus, Ohio, on March 6, 2004. The rectangular crystal award, 5″ x 7″ x .5″, features 3D engraved images of Zhabotinsky and three other gold medal-winning Olympic weightlifters honored at the event: Chuck Vinci, Tommy Kono, and Ike Berger.
In a sport that features the world’s biggest stars, weightlifter Leonid Zhabotinsky was larger than life. As a representative of the Soviet Union in the heavyweight division, Zhabotinsky proved himself year after year as one of Earth’s mightiest men, routinely placing—and oftentimes winning—in whatever competition he entered. To cement his status as a truly historical strongman, Zhabotinsky won back-to-back Olympic gold medals (Tokyo 1964 and Mexico City 1968) in the men’s +90 kg division. So inspiring was the Soviet to budding weightlifters and bodybuilders the world over, that as a young Austrian teenager Arnold Schwarzenegger kept a photograph of Zhabotinsky taped over his bed.
