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Bulgarian Olympic Glory - Team Sports

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Photo: www.fivb.org
Team sports enjoy considerable popularity all across the world due to the fact that success in them depends on a team strategy, as well as the individual qualities of the players. Strategy, mental and physical toughness are necessary for achieving victory and this is what attracts fans to the stadiums and halls. Team sports have an important place in the programme of the Olympic Games. During the summer games the team tournaments will be 6: football, volleyball, basketball, handball, water polo, and field hockey. Bulgaria has Olympic successes in the most popular team sports in the country – football, volleyball, and basketball.

Bulgarian footballers play for the first time at the Olympic stadium in 1924 in Paris. The team left the tournament after a 2:4 loss against Eire. The second participation of the Bulgarian team at Olympic Games was in 1952 in Helsinki but there the team lost 1:2 to USSR. At the following games in Melbourne in 1956 the Bulgarian football players won the bronze medals after a loss to the team of the USSR in the semi-finals. Manager of the team at that time was Stoyan Ormandzhiev. The games in Mexico in 1968 were the most successful for the Bulgarian football. The players led by manager Georgi Berkov grabbed the silver medals. Bulgaria lost 4:1 the match for the gold medals against the team of Hungary.

The first participation of the Bulgarian men’s basketball team at Olympic Games took place in 1952 in Helsinki. The team placed 7th before reaching the 5th place during the 1956 games in Melbourne. The women’s team is the one that has brought Olympic medals for Bulgaria in the sport. The women’s team has played 3 times at Olympic Games and has won two medals. In Montreal in 1976 the Bulgarians won the bronze medals before winning the silver in Moscow in 1980. Coach at that time was Ivan Galabov. In Seoul in 1988 the team placed 5th.

Bulgarian volleyball players debuted at the Olympic Games in Japan in 1964. The team led by coach Dimitar Zahariev placed 6th. In Mexico in 1968 it reached the 4th place. The biggest Olympic success of Bulgarian volleyball players came in Moscow in 1980, when the team won the silver medals. In Moscow the women’s volleyball team had its debut and grabbed the bronze medals. Manager was Vasil Simov. After the boycott of the games in 1984, came the last participation of a Bulgarian volleyball team in Olympic Games. This was in 1988 is Seoul when the volleyball players placed 6th.

The team tournaments at the Olympic Games this year are to offer great emotions to fans. The Bulgarian men’s volleyball team still has the chance to qualify for participation. It has to go through the European Olympic qualification tournament that will take place in Sofia May 8-13th. Bulgaria is the same group with the teams of Serbia, Spain, and Slovenia. The teams of Germany, Italy, Finland, and Slovakia are in the other group. The competition will be fierce as just one team is to win the tournament and an Olympic quota. Bulgarian fans still hope to see their favorite players in the Earls Court hall in London this summer. 
По публикацията работи: Alexander Markov


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