Valentin Dikul

Valentin Ivanovich Dikul (; born 3 April 1948) is a Russian circus strongman and rehabilitation specialist. He is a People's Artist of Russia and the head of the Russian medical and rehabilitation center of the musculoskeletal system diseases.

Biography Dikul was born prematurely, weighing just over one kilogram. His father Ivan Grigoryevich (1920–1950) was Ukrainian by nationality and worked as a serviceman in the NKVD and its successor, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but was killed in the line of duty. His mother Anna Korneyevna (1925–1952) was Russian by nationality, and died when Valentin was still in kindergarten. Dikul was raised by his grandparents until he was seven years old, when he began living in orphanages, first in Vilnius and then in Kaunas. Aged nine, he became interested in the circus and helped to put up the circus tent, cleaning the arena, looking after the animals, sweeping, and washing the floors. At fourteen he began working as a motorcycle repairman. In his free time he trained in gymnastics, wrestling, weightlifting, balancing acts, acrobatics, juggling, and stunts, and eventually became involved with the circus in Kaunas.

In 1988, the Dikul center, a Russian rehabilitation center for patients with spinal injuries and with consequences of infantile cerebral paralysis, was opened.