He had success at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow and won 6 gold medals at the world championships in Manila and Havana, Cuba.

He has worked as chief coach for the national teams of Bulgaria, Bahrain, India, Thailand and Indonesia.

Kolev has won a total of 29 medals from the Olympic Games, World and European Championships in total, snatch and clean and jerk - 11 gold, 11 silver and 7 bronze.

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