That really is the case this year.
Having won titles in rapid draughts and the bench press last year, 32-year-old Leesmann has once again set his sights on Estonian powerlifting gold this autumn. I first had the chance to see him compete last summer at the Robocop Cup. The competition took place on the veranda of the Albatros club in Pirita, with lifters competing regardless of weight class, and Leesmann finished sixth. His attempts were 175-185 and finally 195 kg. He finished 15 kilos behind the winner, Aivo Nurmine. His title came at the end of the year in Tartu, in the up-to-100-kilo category.
This year he wants more: to fulfill his ambition of becoming champion in his 100 kg body weight category. He aims to keep his own body weight at 99-100 kg. It is not easy, he says. It takes training and requires a diet.
Who is the man behind the titles?
He grew up in a nine-story apartment block in Õismäe, trying his hand at various sports. He also finished school there, among the white apartment buildings. It was there, too, that he found his way to a draughts club and coach Koit Tanner. The wins followed. First at school sports competitions from 1981 onwards, then against adult opponents.
He still looks up to the Dutch players, above all their great champion Wiersma. He appreciates the beauty of the game and those moments when, out of the corner of his eye, he sees ten or so onlookers gasp. What a feat—to think it through and then actually play it. Leesmann pauses to consider which is harder: lifting, lying on a bench with nearly two hundred on your chest, or a 6-8-hour day at the draughts board. Both take their toll, he says. But each sport has helped the other. Together, they have made him a true sportsman.
Kaido Leesmann trains with Fred Antson. Yes, the son of Ants, the speed skater and Winter Olympic hero. He trains at Reval-Sport, where strength athletes now have more room than before and, since the start of the year, first-rate American Cybebx machines.
Among his better-known training companions are strongman Andrus Murumets, bodybuilder Andres Barabanov and, of course, three-time overall Estonian bodybuilding champion Ott Kiivikas, among others. There is time for plenty during a workout. It is not all mindlessly heaving iron around. Conversation ranges from muscles and women to supplements and body fat, from the city’s absurdly snowy streets to the longing for spring.
On Sunday, 20 January, the men of our powerlifting federation will gather on Laki Street. At their annual meeting, they will consider the way forward. They will also look back, with satisfaction: powerlifting is alive and well. Nurmine, Silbaum, Leps, Zhdanov, Laiv—all men who, like Kaido, count the bench press among their favorite lifts.
We are not among the world’s best. Yet?!
Is there room to improve?
Of course there is. And fortunately, there is still time, too.
Draughts player and powerlifter Kaido Leesmann founded his company, Secure Class, two years ago. As the name suggests, it deals in security glass, window tinting for vehicles and buildings, and so on. There is plenty of work. Winter is quieter, which means the boss can afford to take a two-week business trip to the USA. His wife Triin, who happens to be a draughts player too, will be joining him.
On his return, work and studies at the Estonian-American College await Leesmann once again. His qualification in international business management is not far off.
Nothing is impossible for a man who values strength and has a rich inner life, with music among his interests and the Bible his favorite reading. We should also mention that Kaido serves on the board of the Tallinn Christian Free Church.
Author: Aare Kreilis
Come and work out! ArtGym
