Vasily Ivanovich Alekseyev (; 7 January 1942 – 25 November 2011) was a Soviet weightlifter. He set 80 world records and 81 Soviet national records in weightlifting and won Olympic gold medals at the 1972 and 1976 games. During one of his early world records, Oscar State OBE remarked that the weight of over 460 pounds (209 kg) in the Olympic press looked so easy it could have been a broomstick. This was the beginning of a series of 80 world records Alekseyev set between 1970 and 1977. He received bonus funds by the Soviet government every time he set a world record (Soviet athletics were funded by the state), so he made it a point to gradually increase his world records by 1.1 pounds or 0.5 kg. He was unbeaten and held the World Championship and European Championship titles for those eight years. He was the first man to total over 600 kg in the triple event.

In 1987, Alekseyev was elected to represent the Ryazan District for the Soviet Union's Congress of People's Deputies.

From 1966 Alekseyev lived in Shakhty, where in 1971 he graduated from the branch of the Novocherkassk Polytechnical Institute. He died on 25 November 2011 in Germany in a clinic where he had been sent for serious heart problems. He was 69. The Russian Weightlifting Federation reported his death and called him a "Soviet sports legend" and "one of the strongest people in the world". He was survived by wife Olimpiada and sons Sergey and Dmitry. Dmitry competed nationally in weightlifting, placing fourth at the 1988 Soviet weightlifting championships.

Alekseyev was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated 14 April 1975, titled "World's Strongest Man." In 1999, in Greece, Alekseyev was acknowledged as the best sportsman of the 20th century. He was also awarded: Order of Lenin (1972), Order of Friendship of Peoples, Order of the Badge of Honour (1970), and Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1972). In 1993, he was elected a member of the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame.

In Shakhty, where he lived much of his life, there is a street and park named after him, as well as his monument installed in 2014.

Career-bests

  • Snatch: 190.0 kg (419 lbs) on 1 September 1977 in Podolsk;
  • Clean and press: 236.5 kg (521 lbs) on 15 April 1972 in Tallinn;
  • Clean and jerk: 256.0 kg (564 lbs) on 1 November 1977 in Moscow;
  • Total: 645.0 kg (clean and press+snatch+clean and jerk), on 15 April 1972 in Tallinn, the official world record total in 1972;
  • Total: 445.0 kg (snatch + clean and jerk) in Podolsk.