Career
Kochev made his official debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he competed in the men"s super heavyweight division (130 kg). He lost his opening match to Cuba"s Alexis Rodríguez without receiving a single point on the morning session, but pulled off a 1–1 draw to tame Mongolia"s Dolgorsürengiin Sumyaabazar at the end of the round-robin. Finishing second in the prelim pool and twelfth overall, Kochev"s performance fell short to put him further into the quarterfinals.
When his nation Bulgaria hosted the 2001 World Wrestling Championships in Sofia, Kochev lowered his weight to less than a hundred kilograms to compete in the 97-kg division.
Despite being brought by the massive roar of the home crowd, Kochev suffered a disappointing defeat from Russia"s Giorgi Gogshelidze (who later represented Georgia in two Olympic Games) in the final match 0–3, but luckily picked up a silver medal for the host nation. Two years later, at the 2003 World Wrestling Championships in New York City, New York, United States, Kochev came strong with a bronze medal effort in the 96-kg division, which effectively earned him a ticket to his second Olympics.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Kochev qualified for his second Bulgarian squad, as a 30-year-old, in the men"s heavyweight class (96 kg) by placing third and receiving a berth from the World Championships. Unlike his previous Olympics, Kochev made an embarrassing exit with two straight defeats from Kyrgyzstan"s Aleksey Krupnyakov (2–3) and Uzbekistan"s Magomed Ibragimov (0–3), leaving him on the bottom of the pool and finishing seventeenth overall in the final standings.
