Klitschko took revenge on the Russian by replacing his brother at the Olympics: the Ukrainian became an Olympic champion in the United States 22 year ago

Volodymyr Klitschko became the first boxer in the history of independent Ukraine to win a gold medal at the Olympics 22 years ago on August 4, 1996. He got to the tournament in Atlanta under the license of his older brother but had to change the category and defeat the Russian, to whom he lost at the European Championships.

Vitaly Klitschko, who won the Olympic license, was supposed to go to the Games in Atlanta, but he did not fly to the U.S. because of steroids, which were found in his tests. According to the doctor who worked with Vitaly at the time, the Ukrainian superathlete took them to treat an injury.

Vitaly Klitschko was concerned about the shrinking of his right thigh muscles and he sought advice from Fischer, a German doctor who served the tournament at the 1995 World Championships. Fischer advised the boxer to take injections of retabolil once a month. The Ukrainian team did not check whether the substance was on the list of banned substances for some reason.

"I was found to have a constituent part of a banned drug when taking doping samples at the World Military Championships. It turned out to be a consequence of improper treatment of a minor injury, which was handled by a non-sports doctor. Since all my requests for clemency were unanswered, Volodymyr began to prepare for the super-heavyweight for the Olympics," Vitaly later recalled.

Some believed that Vitaly Klitschko was "eliminated" on purpose, as he was the main favorite to win in Atlanta-1996. However, if the Ukrainian's competitors had such thought, the plan failed anyway. Volodymyr flew to the USA instead od Vitaly and left no chance for anyone. The brother took revenge for his brother as it happened later in professional boxing. In other words, he backed him up.

According to Vitaly, Volodymyr had a difficult time because of the rapid change of category, "It was quite difficult for him to move from heavyweight to super-heavyweight, and then not only to maintain his form at the Olympics but also to win. It was only thanks to his determination and strength of mind that he was able to win the first fight and then the final".

Volodymyr Klitschko made his Olympic debut in Atlanta on July 27, 1996 with a fight against local boxer Lawrence Clay-Bey. There is always a risk of losing by a close judges' decision in a fight with the ring master. Although Klitschko was knocked down in the 3rd round, he was vastly superior to his opponent and the judges gave the Ukrainian a well-deserved victory.

"The Olympic tournament is a very long and difficult distance. The main thing was not to break down psychologically. Many famous and promising boxers were unable to do this and that's why they were eliminated in the first round. Therefore, you will need great self-control and determination," Vitaly said later.

No matter how hard it was for Volodymyr, he did great job fight after fight. After a nervous start, the Ukrainian won his second fight in Atlanta on July 31, 1996 against Attila Levin of Sweden.

From the first seconds he began to smash Levin with his trademark double and after another accurate combination the referee first opened the score for the discouraged Swede, who was already bleeding, and then stopped the fight and recorded Volodymyr's victory by technical knockout in the first round.

Volodymyr met a difficult opponent on August 2 in the semifinals. The Russian Alexei Lezin, to whom he had previously lost in the finals of the European Championship-1995, had also beaten his older brother Vitaly, so the fight was very intriguing. However, this time it went according to Klitschko's scenario.

The Ukrainian dominated the ring and won by majority decision of the judges. Only one side judge somehow saw Lezin's advantage, but his vote did not decide anything, as the other four gave the victory to Klitschko with the score 4:1.

Volodymyr met a representative of the small island nation of Tonga Paea Wolfgramm on August 4 in the final of the Olympic Games-1996. Paea became a national hero in his homeland as soon as he reached the semifinals of the tournament and secured a bronze medal, because neither before nor after him the island team had any Olympic awards.

Wolfgramm, who is short for a super-heavyweight (185 centimeters), was able to outbox Belarus' Seri Liakhovich (10:9) and one of the main favorites Cuban Alexis Rubalcaba (17:12) in Atlanta. He then snatched a ticket to the final in an equal confrontation with Nigerian Duncan Dokiwari with a score of 7:6. However, it cost Paea a broken nose and an injured hand.

Wolfgramm was determined to impose the fight to 20-year-old Klitschko. After two rounds, the Ukrainian's advantage was minimal with the score of 2:1. However, Volodymyr held the final segment in a champion's manner and won with the score of 7:3.

"I was ready to burst into 2,000 pieces if that was what it took to succeed. I can't even imagine what would have happened if I had won the gold medal. Maybe first me and then my coach died of happiness. Then the King would have given me half of Tonga," Paea joked after the Olympics.

"Memories as they are. Atlanta, 1996. I was a young athlete striving for my then greatest goal, a gold medal. Success did not come easy. I had to endure hardship to achieve it. I relied on willpower, my main asset besides talent," Volodymyr admitted.

Interestingly, Vitaly became the first representative of the Caucasian race to win a gold medal in the heavyweight division at the Olympic tournament. Volodymyr moved to professional boxing imediately after the Atlanta gold, where he also managed to become a world champion and shone for 21 years.

By the way, Volodymyr Klitschko and Wolfgramm met as the pros in 2000, but four years after the Games fight the Tonga hero failed. Rapidly progressing Volodymyr won by knockout already in the first round.

Earlier OBOZREVATEL shared how Usyk staged a nightmare night to the Russians, destroying their favorite and becoming the absolute champion.

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