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Born: 1978
Residence: Chelyabinsk, Russia
Occupation: Olympic weightlifter, strongman, powerlifter
Height: 193 cm
Bodyweight: 160 kg

Being 13 years old, started Olympic weightlifting training. From 1995 till 2004 had been a member of the Russian National Weightlifting Team. Won six Russian weightlifting champion titles. His personal bests:
Snatch: 210.0 kg
Clean and Jerk: 250.0 kg
Total: 450.0 kg (210 kg plus 240 kg)

In 2005 decided to move to strongman contests. Won the Russian Championships and placed 3rd at the 2005 IFSA World Championships. In 2006 he began with the Arnold Strongman Classic, taking the 3rd place, then went to the IFSA World Championships and placed 2nd, just 2 points behind Zydrunas Savickas. In 2007 he won over Savickas but they both lost to Vasily Virastiuk of Ukraine. His 2007 participation in the Arnold Strongman was not so successful (5th position) but in 2008 he advanced to the 3rd place and in 2009 to the 2nd place, losing by one point only to Derek Poundstone. This was his best place at Arnold Strongman till now because in 2010 he finished in the 4th position, in 20011- 5th and 2012 – 6th.
In 2009 he did something extraordinary at Arnold Strongman: became the second man in history to clean and jerk the famous 501 lb barbell used by Vasily Alekseyev at the 1970 World Weightlifting Championship in Columbus, Ohio, when he as the first man in history set a clean and jerk world record over 500 lb (227 kg).
Later on he suffered a serious injury: torn his biceps and had to undergo the surgery, so he missed half of the 2010 season.
Koklyaev also won many events from the Strongman Champions League series: in Finland (2008, over Savickas), in Serbia and Holland (2009), in Germany and Finland (2010) . Recently, in August 2012, he placed 2nd (to Savickas) at the contest in Finland.
In April 2012 he tried his powerlifting possibilities, winning the 2012 WPC Raw European Championships doing 965 kg in total (raw): 340 kg squat, 225 kg bench press and 400 kg deadlift. He proved his raw strength is enormous. Will he do it again in Madrid in strongman contest?
Currently, Mikhail is on a diet program prepared for him by the famous pro bodybuilder Sergey Shelestov, who said – “Mikhail, to be strong, you need to it properly”. They both will perform in Madrid, so we will be able to see them on stage and check if Shelestov’s diet is the best one for Koklyaev.

Picture:

Koklyaev with Appolon’s wheels (railway car wheels with axle bar of 50 mm diameter).