The life story of Vitaly Laletin, the Russian arm wrestler

The life story of Vitaly Laletin, the Russian arm wrestler

Helix Odhiambo
updated at January 9, 2024 at 7:02 AM

Vitaly Laletin is a Russian arm wrestler known for his exceptional arm strength and endurance. He has participated in numerous strongman competitions and bagged titles. Laletin has also helped sponsor many local-level arm wrestling competitions in Russia.

Vitaly Laletin
Vitaly Laletin has one of the best top-roll techniques of any active arm wrestler. He has dominated the sport for over a decade. Photo: @vitalik_laletin (modified by author)
Source: Instagram

Laletin is a five-time Russian champion. He has defeated some of the best arm wrestlers in history, solidifying himself among the greatest. This article features the Russian athlete's story, career highlights, net worth, and other fascinating details about him.

Vitaly Laletin's profile summary

Full name

Vitaly Laletin

Year of birth

1989

Age

34 (as of January 2024)

Place of birth

Russia

Nationality

Russian

Height

2.04 m (6' 8")

Weight

137 kg (302 lbs)

Profession

Arm wrestler

Social media

Instagram

Who is Vitaly Laletin?

Laletin is a famous Russian athlete known for his arm-wrestling ability and strength. Vitaly Laletin's birthday remains unclear, but he was born in 1989. Vitaly Laletin's age is 34 as of 2024.

Vitaly's Body measurements

Vitaly Laletin's height
Russian arm wrestler Vitaly Laletin has incredible grip strength and decent height, giving him an advantage over his opponents. Photo: @vitalik_laletin (modified by author)
Source: Instagram

The talented Russian wrestler has a well-built, athletic body. He regularly exercises in the gyms to maintain fitness and compete at a high level. Here is a breakdown of his height, weight, hand size, and arm length.

How tall is Vitaly Laletin?

Vitaly Laletin's height is 2.04 m or 6 feet and 8 inches. He has an ideal height that has made him a formidable competitor.

Vitaly Laletin's weight

The Russian athlete weighs 137 kg or 302 lbs. He weighed 80 kg, which was below the minimum threshold to compete in the super heavyweight division.

Vitaly Laletin's hand size

The multiple world champion has gigantic hands compared to some of his competitors. His big hands enable him to have a firm grip on his opponents. However, his hand size remains undisclosed.

Vitaly Laletin's arm length

According to some sources, Vitaly's forearm measures 37 cm or 14.6 inches, while his biceps are 40 cm or 15.7 inches.

Vitaly Laletin's career

Vitaly Laletin arm wrestling
Vitaly Laletin has competed against some of the best arm wrestlers and won multiple titles. He is also known as the Russian giant. Photo: @vitalik_laletin (modified by author)
Source: Instagram

Vitaly began lifting and working with top Russian coaches in his early twenties. He was skinny but showed incredible potential to excel in arm wrestling. He could control his grip and hit his top roll. The Russian wrestler competed in his first European championship in 2011.

Laletin focused on his training to build more muscle and gain technical skills. He endured ups and downs before finding his bearing and establishing himself among the greatest arm wrestlers.

The Russian giant has participated in several strongman competitions, including King of the Table 5 and the AMC Arm Wrestling Tournament. In 2018, he became one of the top eight arm wrestling champions despite losing to Levan Saginashvili. He has also faced top wrestlers like Andrey Pushkar, Dave Chaffee, and Levan Saginashvili.

Wrestling style

Vitaly has a unique and effective arm-wrestling style, allowing him to maximize his strength and overcome his opponents. He has mastered the art of elbow positioning and often likes pulling his opponent off-base while attacking.

Why is Vitaly so strong?

Vitaly Laletin's arm length
Russia's Vitaly Laletin held the Guinness world record for the world's strongest grip for a while. He is one of the most feared arm wrestlers on earth. Photo: @vitalik_laletin (modified by author)
Source: Instagram

The athlete has incredible grip strength and decent height, giving him an advantage over his opponents. He also has excellent technique, leverage, and muscle coordination.

Vitaly Laletin's grip strength

Laletin has one of the strongest grips in arm wrestling. He can bend grippers and metal pipes and reverse-curl a 10 kg sledgehammer. The Russian icon held the Guinness world record for the strongest grip for a long time. He clocked in a force of 159.3 kg on an official measuring device.

Legendary strongman, Brian Shaw broke Vitaly Laletin's record when he clocked a 162.4 kg grip. Shaw is an American retired arm wrestler who won world titles.

Laletin's career achievements

Vitaly Laletin's record
Vitaly Laletin has proved his worth by winning multiple championships in Russia and beyond. Photo: @vitalik_laletin (modified by author)
Source: Instagram

The master of sports in arm wrestling has been one of the best athletes in the sport for over a decade. He is a five-time Russian champion and seven-time European champion. Vitaly has also bagged seven World Championships.

Laletin made headlines in early 2023 by defeating 110 Arm Wrestlers during an expo in his country. He entertained the audience by overpowering 110-arm wrestlers in 30 minutes.

Who is the world's best arm wrestler?

Although Vitaly is an exceptional wrestler, he is not the best in history. Legendary American athlete John Brzenk is considered the best after winning 24 World Championship titles. Brzenk won 11 consecutive titles from 1997 to 2007. Here is a breakdown of the world's top 10 best arm wrestlers and their nationalities.

Wrestler

Country

John Brzenk

America

Denis Cyplenkov

Ukraine

Cleve Dean

America

Davon Larratt

Canada

Travis Bagent

America

Andriy Pushkar

Ukraine

Dave Chaffee

America

Alexey Voyevoda

Russia

Levan Sasinashvili

Georgia

Vitaly Laletin

Russia

Interesting facts about Laletin

The Russian giant has conquered the world of arm wrestling for many years, writing his name among the best. Besides his career, here are other fascinating details about his life.

He enjoys driving trucks

The seven-time European and world champion revealed his passion for trucks during an interview in 2018. He has been working as a truck driver for years, which has supported his family. Working on screwdrivers and wrenches helped him keep shape. The Russian athlete also once built a house with his hands.

Vitaly Laletin's net worth

Vitaly Laletin's arm wrestling career has made him famous and earned him a decent amount of money. However, his net worth and career earnings remain undisclosed.

Vitaly Laletin's Instagram

The Russian giant is active on Instagram and has shared amazing pictures and short videos with his fans. He has 63.6k followers on the social media platform as of January 2024.

Final word

Vitaly Laletin's life story is an inspirational journey of a once skinny person who became one of the greatest arm wrestlers ever. The Russian trained and worked hard to gain extra weight to enable him to compete with the best in the sport. He is a living legend and a role model to many.

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Authors
Helix Odhiambo photo
Helix Odhiambo
Helix Odhiambo is an award-winning Kenyan journalist and content creator with over 6 years of experience. In 2016, he won the Goal Blaze Correspondent Award for young writers.