A long-form text feature has been published about Anatoly Parfenov, a Soviet Olympic wrestling champion with a remarkable life story. Parfenov was a peasant's son of enormous strength who served as both a storm trooper and tank operator during World War II, meeting victory in Berlin. After only five years of classical wrestling training, he won an Olympic gold medal in the heavyweight division and later coached the legendary Nikolai Balboshin. The story includes interviews with his son and students, and a visit to his hometown village of Dvornikovo near Moscow, where locals still remember him. Anecdotes include Parfenov crushing a pickpocket's hand on a train, carrying buckets of cabbage with one finger, defeating multiple bandits alone, and hauling logs from the forest either by hand or pulling sleds like a horse.
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