The Famous Bulgarians: Doncho Kolev Danev a.k.a Dan Kolov
The lean, mean machine, the man, the myth, the legend – the Bulgarian Hercules
Doncho Kolev Danev was the first European freestyle wrestling champion from Bulgaria who won the European gold in the 1936 championship in Paris. But how did he get there…?
When he was only seven years old, Dan Kolov lost his father. He was forced to become a shepherd boy in order to survive. In 1909 he emigrated to the US where he found work as a railroad construction worker. He became known for his incredible strength that allowed him to twist metal rails around his neck. Legend has it, he once fought a bear with his bare hands and his fellow workers could see the marks he left on the animal’s neck afterwards.
He soon caught the attention of the Victoria Circus and got hired as a wrestler. So far he was self-taught in the sport until he got discovered later on by Zbishko Ciganevich, who became his trainer. Kolov’s golden days were between 1918 and 1927, during which time he was undefeated in all 1500 of his matches. He was the first wrestler to earn the heavyweight wrestling ‘Diamond Belt’ twice! He is best known for his victories against Rudy Dusek (1919) in New York, Jiki Higen “The Strangler” (1921) in Tokyo and Henri Deglane (1933) in Paris. When he finally returned to Bulgaria, he was welcomed home as a national hero. He devoted the rest of his life to charity by organizing matches and donating the proceeds to charitable organizations. The first passenger planes in Bulgaria were purchased thanks to his financing. He died of tuberculosis in 1940 in his home village, Sennik, and was honored by the officers of the Ninth Artillery Corps.
There is a major wrestling tournament organized every year in Bulgaria in his honor.
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