Yeah he was the Russian Nat. Champion several times but was black listed when he switched over to SM. The Nat. coach Dave Rigert saw to it that his Oly days were over. He's one of a handful of Oly lifters to ever C&J 250kg in a nat. meet.
Mark Phillipi was a stud until he blew his knee out in the wsm comp. One of my favorites, not ever in contention is Steve "pickles" Pulcinella, primarily due to his highland games background.