Olympic wrestling champion Nikolai Balboshin describes legendary grip strength

Five-time Greco-Roman wrestling world champion and 1976 Olympic gold medalist Nikolai Balboshin discussed his extraordinary grip strength in an interview. Balboshin explained that he would squeeze opponents' forearms during matches, causing their hands to swell from restricted blood flow. He recalled that opponents would sometimes be unable to continue wrestling because their arms became numb. In one instance at a medical clinic, Balboshin broke a dynamometer that measured grip strength after exceeding its 120-unit maximum. In his autobiography, he described how few people could withstand his handshake, including a trainer whose fingers appeared "flattened" after a prolonged grip battle. Balboshin also recalled shaking hands with the King of Sweden at the 1977 World Championships, squeezing hard enough that he heard the king's fingers crunch, hoping the monarch would remember him for life.