Kyiv Strong: Yakov Kutsenko
History in Color:
May 12, 1958, Chicago, IL – The USSR Weightlifting Head Coach Yakov Kutsenko of Kiev, Ukraine joins the media line-up of photographers covering the team match of the 1958 USA vs USSR Olympic weightlifting series held in Chicago.
Yakov Kutsenko (1915-1988) is truly a legendary personality in the history of Soviet weightlifting. As an athlete, he won 14 USSR Championships from 1937 to 1952. Nobody else won more USSR titles. Kutsenko also won 11 Ukrainian titles.He was 2x a vice champion of the World (1946, 1950) and 2x European champion (1946, 1950). In his career, he set 4 world records, 29 Ukrainian and 53 USSR records. As a distinguished coach, Yakov Kutsenko was the Head Coach of Team CCCP from 1954 to 1963.
“Kyiv Strong” features historical portraits of legendary weightlifting champions from Kyiv, Ukraine.
Kyiv Strong is a mini-series within my History in Color series about old-time Olympic weightlifting in color. Of course, strength is not always about muscles and kilos being lifted in the trainings halls and competitions. Today, we are all watching TV reports about people of Kyiv fighting for their city in the war. Most of them are not athletes at all but they are strong with their spirit and determination to defend their land and the place they live in. It’s not about sets and reps. It’s dedicated people of Kiev, to their courage and unbreakable strength of character.