Valentin Dikul

Valentin Ivanovich Dikul, born on 3 April 1948, is a Russian circus strongman and rehabilitation specialist, a People's Artist of Russia (1999) and head of a Russian medical and rehabilitation centre for diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Orphaned young and raised in orphanages in Vilnius and Kaunas, he trained in gymnastics, wrestling, weightlifting, acrobatics, juggling and stunts and joined the circus in Kaunas. At almost fifteen he fell thirteen metres during an air gymnastics act and suffered a compression fracture of the lumbar spine and a brain injury, then rebuilt his strength with a system of weights and pulleys over months in hospital. The Dikul centre for spinal injuries opened in 1988. He was known for juggling, flipping and snatching kettlebells of up to 80 to 90 kg, and in 2013 was criticised for allegedly falsifying a heavy rock lift.