Atanas Kirov: The Last World Title
History in Color:
September 16, 1975, Moscow, Russia – Atanas Kirov of Burgas, Bulgaria competes in the 56kg class at the 1975 World Championships in Moscow.
At the Worlds in 1975, Atanas Kirov won a gold medal with the 255kg (110+145) total. He was 29 and it happened to be the last World title in his distinguished career.
Atanas Kirov (1946-2017) is a historical figure in the history of Bulgarian Olympic weightlifting. He was the first Bulgarian weightlifter who won the European Championship for his country. It happened in Warsaw, Poland in 1969.
Kirov was an oustanding bantamweight athlete. He won gold medals at the World Championships in 1973, 1974 and 1975, the Europeans’ gold in 1969, 1973, 1974 and 1975 and set 2 world records.
On the national level, Atanas Kirov won a remarkable number of gold medals from 1965 to 1979 – 9 !!!!