Alexander Klyushev

Alexander Klyushev, born on 23 December 1983, is a Russian strongman competitor who entered the World's Strongest Man competition. He grew up in the town of Nyandoma in the Arkhangelsk region in the north of Russia, took up judo at twelve and discovered powerlifting at fourteen. After studying history at Vladimir State University he trained under Serguey Ivanov, a coach of world champion powerlifters, and became a junior World and European champion and later a senior European champion in powerlifting. From 2006 he turned to strength athletics, then called power extreme, and was part of the Russian national team that finished second at the World's Strongest Nation in 2008. In 2009 he won the title of Russia's Strongest Man and was invited to the World's Strongest Man. He has named the wrestler Ivan Poddubny as his hero and works as a policeman outside sport.