A long-form profile of Anatoliy Parfenov, a Soviet Olympic wrestling gold medalist, has been published. Parfenov was a farmer's son of immense physical strength who served in World War II as both an assault infantry soldier and a tank crewman, and was in Berlin when the war ended. He won the Olympic heavyweight gold medal after just five years of training in Greco-Roman wrestling and later coached the great Nikolai Balboshin. The article includes interviews with his son and students, as well as a trip to his native village of Dvornikovo near Moscow, where locals still remember him. Stories include Parfenov crushing a pickpocket's hand on a train, carrying a bucket of cabbage with one finger, beating up bandits alone, and hauling logs by hand or pulling them in a cart like a horse. An 80-year-old villager recalls Parfenov gathering children to play football, forbidding swearing and smoking, swimming in cold water, and being greeted as a hero by the entire village upon returning from the Olympics.
