Olympic wrestling champion Balboshin details legendary grip strength

Five-time world champion and 1976 Olympic wrestling champion Nikolai Balboshin shared stories about his exceptional grip strength in an interview. Balboshin explained that he could assess opponents' strength through pre-match handshakes and would strategically squeeze their forearms during matches to cause swelling and reduce blood flow, weakening their arms. He recounted an incident where he broke a dynamometer testing device at a medical facility after exceeding its 120-unit maximum capacity. In his autobiography, Balboshin described making a fellow coach's fingers appear flattened from the pressure of his handshake. He also claimed that during a 1977 world championship medal ceremony, he squeezed the King of Sweden's hand hard enough to make the royal's fingers crack, believing the monarch would remember the encounter for life. Balboshin noted that his powerful "friendly handshake" was one of his signature traits, with few people able to withstand the pressure.