Alexey Ivanovich Voyevoda (; born 9 May 1980) is a Russian

bobsled Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of 2 to 4 athletes make timed speed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobs ...

der, professional arm wrestler and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Bobsleigh

A professional

bobsleigh Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of 2 to 4 athletes make timed speed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobslei ...

er since 2002, Voyevoda won silver in the four-man bobsleigh event with teammates Philippe Egorov, Alexei Seliverstov, and

Alexandre Zoubkov Alexandr Yuryevich Zubkov (; born 10 August 1974) is a Russian retired bobsledder who has competed since 1999. Competing in four Winter Olympics, he won two medals with a silver in 2006 (four-man) and a bronze in 2010 (two-man).

at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. He also won a bronze in the two-man event at the 2008 FIBT World Championships in

Altenberg, Germany Altenberg () is a town in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in Saxony, Germany. Geography The town is situated in the Ore Mountains, 32 km south of Dresden, and 15 km northwest of Teplice, Czech Republic. The village of ...

. At the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Voyevoda won a bronze in the two-man event. At the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

in Sochi, Voyevoda initially won a gold medal in the two-man event and a gold medal in the four-man event. Voyevoda received the Order For Merit to the Fatherland Award 4th class with Russian President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

handing the state awards. On 24 November 2017, he was stripped of the 2014 Olympic medals by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

, following the doping violation of his bobsledding partner Aleksandr Zubkov. On 18 December 2017, Voyevoda received a personal lifetime ban from the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

due to doping violations at the 2014 Winter Olympics. On 1 February 2018, the CAS removed the sanctions from

Alexey Negodaylo Alexey Aleksandrovich Negodaylo (; born 28 May 1989) is a Russian bobsledder who has competed since 2010. Career Negodaylo was part of a four-man Russian team who originally won gold at the 2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, ...

and

Dmitry Trunenkov Dmitry Vyacheslavovich Trunenkov (; born 19 April 1984) is a Russian bobsledder who has competed since the early 2000s. Career He won the silver medal in the four-man event at the 2008 FIBT World Championships in Altenberg, Germany. He won a gol ...

in bobsleigh, but upheld them on their teammates

Alexandr Zubkov Alexandr Yuryevich Zubkov (; born 10 August 1974) is a Russian retired bobsledder who has competed since 1999. Competing in four Winter Olympics, he won two medals with a silver in 2006 (four-man) and a bronze in 2010 (two-man).

and Alexey Voyevoda.

Arm wrestling

Voyevoda holds a good deal of recognition as a professional arm wrestler, having also secured several Russian arm wrestling championships. His triumph over legendary arm-wrestler John Brzenk was immortalized in the feature-length documentary, "Pulling John", directed by Vassiliki Khonsari and Sevan Matossian. The film "Pulling John" also chronicles his life and training in Russia. He was defeated by Travis Bagent at the 2003 WAF championship, but won the Zloty Tur 2004 cup one year later, defeating high level arm wrestlers such as Bagent, Brzenk, Matt Girdner, and Alexey Semerenko. Voyevoda reclaimed the WAF championship in 2004 (left- and right-handed) and won the European Championship the same year. After a left-hand vendetta match with Alexey Semerenko (winning 4–2) and Travis Bagent (losing 5–1) in 2005, Voyevoda took a break from his professional arm wrestling career to return to bobsleigh training until 2007. As of 2007, Alexey Voyevoda returned to the arm wrestling scene once again, winning a vendetta match 6–0 against Michael Todd in Bulgaria on 26 May. After that brief comeback, he resigned from the arm wrestling scene due to his bobsleigh and Olympic judo training until February 2016. In February 2016, Voyevoda decided to return to arm wrestling and faced Tim Bresnan, but failed to produce the skills and power he once had, ultimately losing the fight 5–1. On 24 June 2023, Voyevoda signed a contract to face John Brzenk at King of the Table 8 on 23 September 2023. He lost the match 4-2 and stated that he was unsure of his future in arm wrestling.

Notable matches/tournaments

Politics

Following the September 2016 elections in Russia, Voyevoda became a

state deputy Established by the Constitution of Brazil, the State Senate is the State's representative body. The members are elected through the proportional system, by taking into account the joining affiliation (political party or coalition of parties), as ...

from

Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and is administratively a part of the Southern Federal District. Its administrative center is the t ...

, representing the ruling party,

United Russia The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...

Personal life

Voyevoda is a

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, calisthenic and he has said that he has never consumed any type of steroid to achieve his physique.

References

External links

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Armpower.net
News, Armpower magazine, Vendetta, pictures, ranking, links etc.
Bobsleigh four-man Olympic medalists for 1924, 1932–56, and since 1964World of Armwrestling
News, videoclips, pictures, profiles, results, tournament calendar, ranking, links etc.
Photo Gallery and forumVideos with Alexey Voevoda
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voyevoda, Alexey 1980 births Living people People from Chernihiv Oblast Russian male bobsledders Russian arm wrestlers Male arm wrestlers United Russia politicians Olympic medalists in bobsleigh Bobsledders at the 2006 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 2010 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic bobsledders for Russia Olympic silver medalists for Russia Olympic bronze medalists for Russia Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Russian sportsperson-politicians Competitors stripped of Winter Olympics medals Recipients of the Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class Russian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in bobsleigh Seventh convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) People from Varva, Chernihiv Oblast 21st-century Russian sportsmen