Kops had a great wrestling career. He won more than forty national and international titles. His specialty was the ‘suplex’. “He grabbed you, threw you backwards and there was no one who could stop him,” says his son Bert Kops Jr. “No one at all. That man was so strong.”
Small man with enormous strength
Yet his father did not necessarily look like a wrestler, says Junior. “Quite a bit like a dork, actually. He had glasses and was a small man. I think they often underestimated him, but they all knew that.”
In 1972, Kops took part in the Olympic Games in Munich, where he was considered a medal candidate. “He really lived for it,” says Junior. But the Games were overshadowed by tragedy: eleven Israeli athletes and officials were killed in an attack.
Kops trained with the Israeli wrestlers and was deeply touched. “He was so devastated that he couldn’t continue,” says his son. “Logically, if your friends are shot dead, you can no longer continue.”
Fitness room
After his career, Kops founded his own gym: Kops Gym. “He started that gym for me and my sisters, so that we could later earn our living in an honest way,” says his son. “He put his whole heart and soul into it. Now we are a household name in Amsterdam, thanks to him.”