Valerios Leonidis


Valerios Leonidis is a Greek former weightlifter and current weightlifting trainer. He has won one Olympic silver medal, two silver and one bronze World Championship medals. He has competed in different weight classes from 60 kg to 69 kg. His rivalry with world-record holder Naim Süleymanoğlu in the men's 64 kg was a very popular part of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, in which he won the silver medal.
Leonidis was born in Yessentuki, Russia, to a Pontic Greek family. He was a member of the national weightlifting team of the Soviet Union from 1982 to 1990 and he moved to Greece in 1991.