Background
He was born in Russia as Vasily Matveyevich Stepanov (Russian: Василий Матвеевич Степанов), but later settled in Latvia, after serving with the Soviet Baltic Fleet there.
He was born in Russia as Vasily Matveyevich Stepanov (Russian: Василий Матвеевич Степанов), but later settled in Latvia, after serving with the Soviet Baltic Fleet there.
He finished second at the 1955 World Championships and 1956 Olympics, both times behind Tommy Kono. After the Olympics he progressed to the middle-heavyweight division and set four ratified world records in the press between 1958 and 1962. In retirement he trained weightlifters in Riga, Latvia.