Bulgarian weightlifters debuted at Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956 when Ivan Abadzhiev placed 7th while Ivan Vasilev was fifth. The first medal for Bulgaria in weightlifting came in 1872 in Munich, when Norair Nurikyan won the gold in the 60kg category. Yordan Bikov and Andon Nikolov also won gold medals in their categories. Mladen Kuchev, Atanas Shopov, and Alexander Kraichev added up to the success with 3 silver medals. This way the first Olympic Games became the most successful ones for Bulgaria’s weightlifting. From then on the sport brought a lot of glory to the country.
In 1976 in Montreal the Bulgarian weightlifters were successful again. Nurair Nurikyan won the Olympic gold for a second time. Yordan Mitkov also won the gold, while Georgi Todorov, Trendafil Stoichev, and Krastyu Semerdzhiev won silver medals. Atanas Shopov added a bronze to the Bulgarian collection. Bulgarian weightlifters returned from the games in Moscow in 1980 with 2 titles, 4 silver, and 2 bronze medals. Yanko Rusev and Asen Zlatev became champions while silver medallists were Stefan Dimitrov, Blagoi Blagoev, Rumen Alexandrov, and Valentin Hristov. Mincho Pashov and Nedelcho Kolev grabbed bronze medals. In 1984 Bulgaria boycotted the Olympic Games, but in Seoul in 1988 the country did not left without titles. Sevdalin Marinov won the gold in the 52 kg category. Borislav Gidikov became champion in the 75 kg category. In South Korea Stefan Topurov won a silver medal while Alexander Varbanov took the bronze.
The Bulgarian traditions in the sport continued to bring successes after the democratic changes in the beginning of the 90s. In 1992 in Barcelona Ivan Ivanov won the gold in the 52 kg category. Nikolay Peshalov and Yoto Yotov won the silver medals, while Stefan Botev became third in the 110 kg category. Yotov became a silver medallist in 1996 in Atlanta, while Sevdalin Minchev and Nikolay Peshalov won bronze medals. In 2000 in Sydney Galabin Boevski became a champion in the 69 kg category. Georgi Markov won the silver in the same category, while Alan Tsagaev was third in the 105 kg category. Milen Dobrev won the gold in Athens in 2004 and Velichko Cholakov won the bronze in the super heavyweight category.
Unfortunately, doping scandals often accompany a sport like weightlifting and Bulgaria did not remain unaffected. In 2008 Bulgaria planned to send 6 male and 2 female weightlifters to the games in China. Before the start of the games, however, all players were stopped due to positive doping tests.
So far, Bulgarian weightlifters have won a total of 36 Olympic medals. Despite problems and difficult periods, the traditions of the sport in the country guarantee future success. The European Championship in 2012 will be the next opportunity to the Bulgarian weighlifters to win a quota for the games in London this summer.
English: Alexander Markov
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