Coaches and Athletes: Kudyukov and Rakhmanov
History in Color:
Super heavyweight Sultan Rakhmanov (right) of Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, and the head coach of Team CCCP Igor Kudykov during the training in March 1979.
History in Color:
Super heavyweight Sultan Rakhmanov (right) of Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, and the head coach of Team CCCP Igor Kudykov during the training in March 1979.
Both Igor and Sultan were very personable, friendly men. I had the pleasure of speaking with them on a couple of occasions when they arrived in the U.S. prior to a competition. Later, during the Europe vs Americas contest, Igor invited me backstage, during intermission, to observe some of the lifters preparing. Sultan gave my friends and me ‘Misha’ pins, ( 1980 Olympic mascot), after meeting him in the lobby of the hotel where the USSR team stayed. He remembered our earlier meeting a few years before.