Athletes and Coaches: Popov and Kemel

History in Color Series:

One of the pioneers of Olympic weightlifting in the USSR, George Popov is working with his student Michael Kemel in the so-called “House of Popov” in Kiev, Ukraine.

Popov competed and set many world records in the pre-WWII times. After the war, he continued lifting and then turned into a well-known coach.

Michael Kemel later also became an outstanding coach with world class athletes as his students. He prepared and trained legendary super heavyweight of the 1980s Anatoly Pisarenko.