Bulgaria has established traditions in a great variety of sports.
Bulgaria has established traditions in a great variety of sports.
Bulgaria participates both in the Summer and Winter Olympics, and its first appearance dates back to the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, when the Swiss gymnast Charles Champaud represented the country. Since then Bulgaria has appeared in most Summer Olympiads, and as of 2022 [update] has won a total of 224 medals: 54 gold, 88 silver, and 82 bronze. The most successful participations took place at Munich (21 medals), Montreal (22 medals), Moscow (41), Seoul (35). At the Winter Olympic Games, Bulgaria has a less impressive record: only 6 medals (of which only one gold) out of 19 participations.
Some of the most prominent Olympians include Mariya Grozdeva (shooting), Ekaterina Dafovska (biathlon), Armen Nazaryan (wrestling), Stefka Kostadinova (high jump, holder of the world record since 1987), Yordanka Donkova (100 m, holder of the world record since 1988), Yordan Yovchev (gymnastics), Neshka Robeva (gymnastics), Rumyana Neykova (rowing).
Wrestling is the most successful discipline. Bulgarian wrestlers have earned a total of 68 medals - 16 gold, 32 silver and 20 bronze. Weightlifting is the second most successful sports with a total of 36 medals. Without doubt this is one of Bulgaria's highest priority sports with around 1,000 gold medals in different competitions, although cases of doping have occurred among Bulgarian weightlifters, which led to the expulsion of the entire Bulgarian team from the 2000 Summer Olympics, and their voluntary withdrawal from the 1988 Summer Olympics. Olympic authorities stripped a number of Bulgarian weightlifters of medals in 2004; and the country's entire weightlifting team withdrew in 2008. [1] [2] Stefan Botev, Nikolay Peshalov, Demir Demirev, Asen Zlatev, Blagoy Blagoev and Yoto Yotov figure among the most distinguished weightlifters. Naim Süleymanoğlu an ethnic Turk, originally trained and competed for Bulgaria before defecting and competing for Turkey.
Shooting sports have also proven to be among Bulgaria's strongest disciplines. Mariya Grozdeva and Tanyu Kiryakov have won Olympic gold medals. Ekaterina Dafovska won the Olympic gold in biathlon in the 1998 Winter Olympic Games, while Evgenia Radanova is the most successful Bulgarian winter olympian with 3 medals in short track speed skating.
Football is the most popular sport in Bulgaria. Many Bulgarians closely follow the top Bulgarian league, currently known as the First Professional Football League; as well as the leagues of other European countries. The national team achieved its greatest success with a fourth-place finish at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States.
Dimitar Berbatov (Димитър Бербатов) currently [update] ranks as one of the most famous Bulgarian football players. As of season 2012/2013, he plays for FC Fulham, rejoining with manager Martin Jol who brought him to England. Berbatov also spent four seasons at Manchester United, where he scored his first two goals for the team in their 3–0 win away to Aalborg in the Champions League group stage on 30 September 2008, less than a month after he joined the team. [3] Georgi Asparuhov, nicknamed Gundi (1943–1971), also became extremely popular at home and abroad, having had offers from clubs in Italy and Portugal, and having won the Bulgarian football player No.1 award for the twentieth century. [4] Hristo Stoichkov has arguably become the best-known Bulgarian footballer of all time. His career peaked between 1992 and 1995, while he played for FC Barcelona, winning the Ballon d'Or in 1994. Additionally, he featured in the FIFA 100 rankings. Three Bulgarians have won the European top scorers' Golden Boot award: Hristo Stoichkov, Georgi Slavkov and Petar Jekov.
CSKA Sofia is one of the two best-performing Bulgarian football clubs. [5] [6] Levski Sofia became the first Bulgarian team to participate in the modern UEFA Champions League in 2006/2007. Slavia Sofia, Lokomotiv Sofia and Litex Lovech have often played in the UEFA Europa League. More recently, Ludogorets Razgrad have become the country's dominant team, with an ongoing streak of six top-flight titles (2012–17). Other popular clubs include Botev Plovdiv, Cherno More Varna, Spartak Varna and Lokomotiv Plovdiv.
In its men's national volleyball side, controlled by the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation, Bulgaria fields one of the leading volleyball teams in Europe and the world. As of January 2009 [update] the team held 4th place in the world according to FIVB rankings. [7] Bulgaria has regularly featured in the Top 10, and has earned silver medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics, the 1970 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship and the 1951 European Championship, as well as numerous bronze medals, including at the 2007 World Cup in Japan. As of 2009 [update] the most popular Bulgarian volleyball players include Plamen Konstantinov, Matey Kaziyski and Vladimir Nikolov.
Rugby union in Bulgaria dates back to the 1960s, possibly earlier. Bulgaria also has its own international men, women's and sevens teams.
Bulgaria boasts great achievements in a great variety of other sports. Maria Gigova and Maria Petrova have each held a record of three world-titles in rhythmic gymnastics. Other famous gymnasts include Simona Peycheva and Neshka Robeva (a highly successful coach as well). Bulgarian rhythmic gymnasts were particularly successful during the 1980s, forming a generation of gymnasts known as the Golden Girls of Bulgaria. Yordan Yovchev ranks as the most famous Bulgarian competitor in Artistic Gymnastics. In wrestling, Boyan Radev, Serafim Barzakov, Armen Nazaryan, Plamen Slavov, Kiril Sirakov and Sergey Moreyko rank as world-class wrestlers. Dan Kolov became a wrestling legend in the early 20th century while living in United States. Out of 1576 matches, he has 75 recorded losses.
Bulgarians have made many significant achievements in athletics. Stefka Kostadinova, who still holds the women's high jump world record, jumped 209 centimetres at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics in Rome to clinch the coveted title. Yordanka Donkova held the world record in the 100 meters hurdles with 12.21 seconds set in Stara Zagora on 21 August 1988 for 28 years until it was broken in 2016 by Kendra Harrison. Presently [update] , Bulgaria takes pride in its sprinters, especially Ivet Lalova and Tezdzhan Naimova.
Chess has achieved great popularity. One of the top chess-masters and a former world champion, Veselin Topalov, plays for Bulgaria. At the end of 2005, both men's and women's world chess-champions came from Bulgaria, as well as the junior world champion.
Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski have won the ISU world figure skating championships twice in a row (2006 and 2007) for ice-dance.
Bulgarians have also achieved major successes in tennis. The Maleeva sisters: Katerina, Manuela and Magdalena, have each reached the top ten in world rankings, and became the only set of three sisters ranked in the top ten at the same time. Bulgaria has other well-known tennis players such as Tsvetana Pironkova a Grand Slam semi-finalist and two-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist, Sesil Karatancheva, and Grigor Dimitrov, a two-time junior Grand Slam champion, 2014 Wimbledon semi-finalist, 2017 Australian Open semi-finalist, 2019 US Open semi-finalist and 2017 World Tour Finals champion.
Boyan Petrov (Bulgarian: Боян Петров, born 7 February 1973) is a Bulgarian zoologist and mountaineer, working at the National Museum of Natural History in Sofia.[1] As of July 2016, he has climbed 8 eight-thousanders, all without supplementary oxygen. This achievement makes him Bulgarian altitude climber with the highest number of peaks over 8000 meters.
Petar Stoychev (Петър Стойчев) set a new swimming world record for crossing the English Channel in 2007.
The country has strong traditions in amateur boxing and in martial-arts competitions. Bulgaria has achieved major success with its judo and karate teams in European and World championships. Kaloyan Stefanov Mahlyanov, best known as Kotoōshū Katsunori, has become well-known worldwide for his sumo prowess, becoming the first European to earn the title ozeki in Japan. Bulgaria has also won several European sumo championships, and is often among the top competitors in this sport.
The Bulgaria national cricket team became an associate member of the ICC in 2017.
Bulgaria intended to host the 2020 FIBA Under-17 Basketball World Cup with Sofia as the host city between July 4 and 12 2020.
The entire Bulgarian weight-lifting team was expelled from the Olympics today in a drug scandal ... Two Bulgarian lifters tested positive for the diuretic furosemide, according to the International Olympic Committee. It was the same diuretic that two Bulgarian gold medalists were caught using at the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea. The entire Bulgarian weight-lifting team withdrew from those Games.
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Maria Dimitrova Petrova is a Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast. She is a triple World All-around champion and a triple European All-around champion.
Teodora Alexandrova is a former Bulgarian individual rhythmic gymnast. She started rhythmic gymnastics in 1986.
Anelia Ralenkova became one of Bulgaria's most distinctive rhythmic gymnasts. She is one of the "Golden Girls" of Bulgaria that dominated rhythmic gymnastics in the 1980s.
The "Golden Girls" of Bulgaria refers to the generation of female rhythmic gymnasts who represented Bulgaria from 1976 to 1999 when the team was coached by Neshka Robeva. In this period, the Golden Girls won 14 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships titles in individual and ensemble performances; 14 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships titles, and an assortment of other world and European titles.
Sport in Romania is an important part of the country's culture. Romania has risen to prominence in a number of sporting areas in recent decades. Association football is the most popular sport in Romania, a nation of 20 million. The most successful club is Steaua Bucharest, who were the first Eastern European side to win the European Cup and the European Supercup in 1986. Romania is one of only four national teams from Europe that took part in the first World Cup in 1930. The Romania national football team has taken part in seven FIFA World Cups and had its most successful run during the 1990s, when they reached the quarterfinals of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, losing to Sweden in the penalty shootout. Romania was ranked third by FIFA in 1997.
The men's rings competition was one of eight events for male competitors of the artistic gymnastics discipline contested in the gymnastics at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The qualification and final rounds took place on August 14 and August 22 at the O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall. There were 77 competitors from 28 nations, with nations competing in the team event having up to 5 gymnasts and other nations having up to 2 gymnasts. The event was won by Dimosthenis Tampakos of Greece, the nation's first victory in the rings since 1896 and second overall. Yordan Yovchev of Bulgaria took silver, while Jury Chechi of Italy earned bronze. All three men had previously won a medal in the event; they were the 9th, 10th, and 11th men to win multiple rings medals.
Iliana Raycheva Raeva-Sirakova is a Bulgarian gymnast who competed in modern rhythmic gymnastics for her country from 1978 to 1983 . She was one of the Golden Girls of Bulgaria that dominated Rhythmic Gymnastics in 1980s.
Greece has risen to prominence in a number of sporting areas in recent decades. Football in particular has seen a rapid transformation, with the Greece national football team winning the UEFA Euro 2004. Many Greek athletes have also achieved significant success and have won world and olympic titles in numerous sports during the years, such as basketball, wrestling, water polo, athletics, weightlifting, with many of them becoming international stars inside their sports. The successful organisation of the Athens 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games led also to the further development of many sports and has led to the creation of many world class sport venues all over Greece and especially in Athens. Greek athletes have won a total 169 medals for Greece in 17 different Olympic sports at the Summer Olympic Games, including the Intercalated Games, an achievement which makes Greece one of the top nations globally, in the world's rankings of medals per capital
Dancing Stars is the Bulgarian adaptation of the BBC Worldwide format Dancing With The Stars. The first season of the show started on 22 September 2008 and was aired on bTV. The first season of the show was hosted by Radost Draganova and Todor Kolev. It aired from Monday to Thursday with two live shows, on Monday and Thursday and two background episodes on Tuesday and Wednesday. Dancing stars 1 was produced by Old School Productions and proved to be a huge success reaching an average audience share of over 40%, beating Nova Television's Big Brother 4.
The men's rings competition was one of eight events for male competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. The qualification and final rounds took place on September 16 and 24 at the Sydney Super Dome. There were 78 competitors from 29 nations; nations competing in the team event could have up to 5 gymnasts in the vault, while other nations could have up to 2 gymnasts. The event was won by Szilveszter Csollány of Hungary, the nation's first victory in the rings. Csollány, who had taken silver in 1996, became the eighth man to win multiple medals in the event. The silver this time went to Dimosthenis Tampakos of Greece—the first medal in the event for a Greek gymnast since 1896. Yordan Yovchev earned Bulgaria's first rings medal since 1960 with his bronze.
Bulgaria competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012. It was the nation's nineteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics, having missed the Olympics on three occasions, including the 1948 Summer Olympics in London due to the nation's role in World War II and 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles because of the Soviet boycott. Despite this being London's third Olympic Games, this was the first time a Bulgarian team appeared at a London Olympics. The Bulgarian Olympic Committee sent the nation's smallest delegation to the Games, tying the record with Helsinki in 1952, and with Tokyo in 1964. A total of 63 athletes, 36 men and 27 women, competed in 16 sports. Men's volleyball was the only team event in which Bulgaria was represented in these Olympic games. There was only a single competitor in badminton, sprint canoeing, fencing, and judo.
The men's rings competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics was held at the North Greenwich Arena on 28 July and 6 August 2012. It included 68 competitors from 31 nations.
Mila Marinova is a Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast.
The 2018 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 10 to 16 September 2018 at Arena Armeec. The top three countries in the group all-around, Russia, Italy, and Bulgaria won the first three spots for the 2020 Olympic Games. Russia was the most successful nation of the competition with seven of the nine gold medals, and Bulgaria and Italy each won a title.
Sofia Raffaeli is an Italian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2022 World all-around, hoop, ball, ribbon and team champion, the 2023 World all-around, hoop and ball silver medalist, the 2023 European ball and clubs champion and silver all-around medalist, the 2024 European ball champion and all-around and ribbon silver medalist and the 2022 European hoop and clubs champion. She is also the 2019 Junior World silver medalist with rope and clubs. She is the first Italian individual rhythmic gymnast to win a gold medal at the World Championships, European Championships and World Games, and she has won seven all-around gold medals in the FIG World Cup circuit.
Rachel Stoyanov is a Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast. She formerly represented North Macedonia in individual competition until 2021, when she joined the Bulgarian group. In 2022 she won gold medal with The Bulgarian team in All-around at the world championship in Sofia and become a World Champion. She won gold medal in the finals with 3 ribbons+2 balls. She is the European all-around champion and team champion with the Bulgarian team in 2023, as well as a silver medalist in the 5-hoop final. She is European champion with the Bulgarian team event of the 2022 European Championships in Tel Aviv. In 2024 Rachel and the Bulgarian team become an Europian Champion for a second time in Budapest.
Bulgaria is competing at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. Bulgarian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympics from 1924 onwards, except for three occasions: the 1948 Summer Olympics in London because of the nation's instigation in World War II, and the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles because of the worldwide Great Depression and Soviet boycott, respectively.
Iordanka Andonova is a former Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast. She's the 2005 world champion with 5 ribbons.