Dmitry Klokov: I wouldn’t have made it without sport

In the modern world to meet a real gentleman – a rarity and great luck. After all, few people manage to combine brutality, strong life principles, unwavering diligence and the ability to show gentle, soft feelings. In a special project of Givenchy and “Championship” we want to share the story of a hero who, contrary to all stereotypes, combined such opposite, at first glance, qualities as masculinity and elegance.

Weightlifter Dmitry Klokov is as good and natural at being a gentleman as he is at winning champion titles. Sport for him has always been an integral part of his life: as a child he never left the stadium in the yard, playing soccer, and later he practiced judo. Dmitry came to weightlifting at the age of 12 – and it cost him a lot of effort. Despite the fact that his father, Vyacheslav Klokov, himself won a world title in this sport, he definitely did not want his son to become a professional weightlifter. Today Dmitry Klokov is a champion and multiple world championship medalist, as well as a silver medalist of the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Currently he is developing his own brand of WINNER clothing, produces weightlifting equipment KLOKOV Equipment, owns a gym KLOKOV & BazaTeam and motivates sports enthusiasts at seminars all over the world. We met with Dmitry to talk about his path to success, business projects, life principles and family relationships.

About sports: the beginning of his professional career and the path to success

All my childhood I was in sports, but under control. The task was just to take me out of the yard and make me do business. But my father did not wish me a career as a professional athlete.

Dewhole environment of our family pushed me into weightlifting. “Yes, he plays sports, but look at his legs – the muscles are hanging. He’s still a kid, but he’s already got muscles! He’s like you,” my friends told my father. That’s how he broke down one day.

“Keep in mind that the stakes are the highest. We will prepare for the toughest challenges. You have to realize that at any moment, the sport could be over for you. Every day, every workout, every approach could be your last. No matter how tough you leave the arena, you will be forgotten,” my father said when he agreed to put me in weightlifting.

Initially, I didn’t want to become an outstanding athlete. I wanted to be better than the other guys. I always wanted to be better for my age.

One day my father took us to the Olympics and showed us how it goes, live. I found motivation there: I dreamed of becoming an Olympic champion or medalist.

My parents traveled with me everywhere because they were from sports themselves. My mom was not a weightlifter, of course, she was a figure skater. I always felt comfortable when the family came to support. It was an integral part of almost every competition.

To be honest, I felt successful right after the first performance(laughs). It wasn’t like I thought I was a failure at first, but then I won something and changed my attitude. I always enjoyed competitions, and bringing a medal from them was a must have. If I succeeded, that was success. But I could say to myself “Yes, I succeeded as a weightlifter” probably closer to the adult victories.

When I became world champion in 2005,I equaled my father in terms of regalia. It was a certain waterline, after which everything that was higher than my father was already a plus for me.

Now Dmitry is the founder of a new sport – crosslifting. He is engaged in its development at the head of the Russian Association of Power Sports.

About business: the idea of creating a brand and the pleasure of work

Preparing for competitions, you miss your education, you don‘t start a business, you don’t save up start-up capital – in the end, when your career is over, you leave and start a new business practically from scratch. My father’s advice throughout my athletic life was to prepare mentally, physically, whatever to avoid this. Even started tossing around business magazines, introducing me to outside activities. I got into it.

The first time I was outfitted for a trip to the adult European Championships, I realized that I wanted to get into creating sportswear specifically. The national team uniforms made a strong impression. Although before that I had already made dresses for my younger sister’s dolls. Many years later I needed this experience, and in 2010, when my daughter was discharged from the hospital, I made her a jumpsuit with ruffles and bows from my T-shirts.

Since 2005 I have been patenting the trademark, developing and designing. I took my car and drove to competitions where I didn’t compete. I used to load T-shirts with weightlifting emblems and sell them while I was still an athlete.

I do a lot of things now, butmy greatest pleasure comes from organizing and running competitions. I have set myself a new challenge – to organize a children’s sports festival next year, which will include more than 20 sports. We are already in the process of doing that.

I hold seminars all over the world. In five and a half years, there have been 406 12-hour sessions in 60 countries.

Mymost important business activity for many years now has been the production of WINNER sportswear. This business is like a first child for me.

In every man’s closet there should be three things: a classic suit, a tracksuit and… swimming trunks. After all, without being able to switch from work to leisure, we would all go crazy a long time ago.

For me, sport is everything: both a hobby and a job. I realized that I want to do everything that comes with it.

I’m a happy man. Like they say, if you find a job that you enjoy, you won’t work a day in your life. That completely describes what I do now.

About principles: hard work, respect for people and sports

I don’t like to name goals – I work for them. For me, sport is a great example of how you have to train every day for a really good result, like medals at the World Championships. You can prepare for years, but every day is important.

I value efficiency, self-confidence and integrity. I can’t say for myself whether I have all three qualities. But I try to live up to the ideal I have in my head and believe in.

Employability is something I am definitely proud of. At any time of the day, on every front of work, I give one hundred percent. It was that way in sports, it’s that way now in business and in anything else. That’s my greatest asset.

I value peoplevery much enI don’t throw them away.

Every person I do business with is a client forever. I don’t work on short notice. On the contrary, I try to make sure that a person stays with me for life.

I respect sports. It made me, its gene is in me, without which I would not have made it in life. I should be grateful to sport with both my body and my head.

My childhoodidol Dimas Prirros is a three-time Olympic champion and bronze medalist. He simply infected me with motivation and energy.

In today’s media realities, the ability to present and sell prevails. People remember some people because of their outstanding successes and others because of their presentation. I’m not exactly happy about this, but it’s just reality.

When talking about a true gentleman, people tend to speak in standard clichés. The first thing that comes to mind is to always let the girl go first, give her flowers. I agree with everything inherent in the word “gentleman” and always keep these principles in my mind.

On family: love for my daughter and willingness to support any decision she makes

My spouse and I are like the bad cop andthe good cop for our daughter Nastia. Due to the fact that I am unfortunately rarely at home so far, the whole upbringing lies on my wife. I act as a punitive body(laughs). Within reason, of course!

My daughter and I are not friends yet, but she misses me. You can see that when I come home, she always finds time to show and tell me everything. It’s hard for me to understand exactly how Nastya perceives me, but from the feeling there is a certain neatness in her attitude.

Of course, I realize that I often go overboard with my work. But in the end it’s all for Nastya and her future. I hope that later she will understand me and forgive me for being a bad father.

For me, my daughter is the most important thing inmy life.

When I was an athlete, I wanted my child, whether it wasa daughter or a son, to go into professional sports. Now, having plunged into ordinary life, I realize that the desire has fundamentally disappeared. Perhaps I am repeating my father’s story.

We have so much sportin ourfamily that at home we try not to even talk about it. Because everything is already connected to it!

If my daughter suddenly wants to take up professional sports, I will not discourage her. But I will not motivate Nastya to become a famous athlete, an Olympic champion. But if she adopts my childhood desire, I will naturally support her.