Born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg, Russia), Vasīlijs Stepanovs took up weightlifting in 1948 while serving with the Soviet Baltic Fleet in Latvia. Stepanovs started out as a middleweight competitor, winning the Soviet championships silver in that category in 1953. He then switched to light-heavyweight and won silver (1955) and his only title (1956) at the Soviet championships in that category. He was also selected for the Soviet national team and competed in three international tournaments. He won gold at the 1955 European Championships and silver at both the 1955 World Championships and 1956 Olympic Games. After the Olympics Stepanovs switched his weight class again and competed as a middle-heavyweight. As a middle-heavyweight he was not as successful, winning Soviet Championships silver (1962) and two bronze medals (1958, 1959), but he set five middle-heavyweight press world records between 1958 and 1962, his only world records. Stepanovs won the Latvian SSR championships nine times. After finishing his sporting career Stepanovs worked as a weightlifting coach in Latvia.
Soviet Union
Latvia