Reflections on Valentin Hristov’s Champion on a Cross – Iron Game History – August, 2013

Valentin Hristov (sometimes spelled Kristov) was one of the top Bulgarian weightlifters during the big-time days of Bulgarian weightlifting in the 1970s and 1980s. His lifting achievements included nine world records and two gold medals in world championships. He won the first of these in Moscow in 1975 at the age of nineteen and, far more remarkable, the 110 kilo (242.5 pound) teenager came very close to besting the most coveted world record in the sport-the super- heavyweight record held by the already legendary, supposedly unbeatable “king of the clean and jerk,” the Soviet’s superstar Vasily Alexeyev.