Remembering the Olympics with love and pride: Strictly Bulgarian

We are just a few days away from the start of the XXXIII Summer Olympic Games. For the third time in modern history, and exactly a century after it last hosted the event, the most important sports forum will once again be held in Paris, the French capital and the birthplace of the "father" of the modern Olympic movement, Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

He was a historian and educator who dedicated his life to promoting athletics throughout the world. He changed the educational system in his homeland so that physical education could play an important role in the education of young people and in the revival and development of the modern Olympic Games. At an international congress held at the Sorbonne in Paris on 23 June 1894, he made the first official proposal for the establishment of the Summer Games on the model of the ancient Olympics. The International Olympic Committee was founded and Coubertin became its second president.

The first modern Olympic Games were held in the Greek capital of Athens in April 1896 under the presidency of Demetrius Vikelas. The second games took place four years later in Paris.

Did you know that Bulgaria was one of the 14 founding countries of the first Summer Olympics 128 years ago? "A fact that every Bulgarian should be very proud of," Katya Ivanova, a long-time curator at the Museum of Sport in Sofia, tells Radio Bulgaria.

Bicycle and barbells among the oldest exhibits at Museum of Sports in Sofia

"In 1894, ten Swiss gymnastics teachers arrived in Bulgaria and were assigned to the main pedagogical gymnasiums in the country. Not only did the Swiss teachers play an outstanding role in modern physical education in Bulgaria, but the name of one of them is closely associated with Bulgaria's participation in the first modern Olympic Games. Bulgaria was represented by the Swiss gymnastics teacher Charles Champaud. He competed on parallel bars, vault and pommel horse. Champaud came fifth on vault and scored Bulgaria's first two points.

For a long time we sports historians had to explain why Bulgaria was considered to be a founding member and participant, since a Swiss man was practically competing on behalf of Bulgaria. Yes, but this Swiss, when he arrived in our country two years ago, was appointed by the Ministry of Education. He took part in the Olympic Games as a teacher from a Bulgarian school, the First Male Gymnasium in Sofia, as part of the then five-member Bulgarian delegation, along with 13 other countries".

By comparison, this year's Olympic Games will be attended by representatives from 204 countries. The commemorative medal from Bulgaria's first Olympic appearance is still on display at the Sports Museum in the Vasil Levski National Stadium, and Ms Ivanova recalls Bulgaria's participation in the 1928 Games in Amsterdam, when the country sent only five athletes - three equestrians and two fencers. The funds earmarked for a larger sports delegation were diverted to help those affected by the Chirpan earthquake in April that year, which measured 7.0 on the Richter scale, claiming 107 lives and causing huge material damage.

"And here, in the museum, is Dimitar Vassilev's fencing suit, in which he participated in 1928. It is a very remarkable exhibit. These men laid the Olympic trail for Bulgaria without having much in the way of material conditions for their training".

Bulgaria's first Olympic medal was a bronze at the Helsinki Games in 1952. It was won by the boxer Boris Georgiev in the 75 kg category.

Bulgarian Olympic Glory – Boxing

"In the museum we have two Olympic gold medals, both from Munich 1972 - one won by wrestler Georgi Markov and the other by our first Olympic boxing champion Georgi Kostadinov. We also have several silver and bronze medals, but I will focus on two silver medals on display in the museum, which for us Bulgarians have the glory of gold.

The gold medal of Bulgaria's first Olympic boxing champion Georgi Kostadinov.

The silver medal of the long jumper Diana Yorgova, who lost by just one centimetre to the representative of the host country in Munich in 1972. To this day, there are doubts as to whether her jump was measured accurately, as there was no electronic measurement in those days and everything was done by hand with a measuring tape.

Diana Yorgova's silver medal in the long jump, 1972.

The other medal belongs to high jumper Yordanka Blagoeva. It is from the same Games in Munich. She has told the story of this medal many times, so let me tell it briefly. When she cleared the height to win gold, she walked away from the landing area and was already putting on her tracksuit top, a full 17 seconds had passed since her attempt, when suddenly the bar fell. For some reason, the Bulgarian team didn't claim the gold medal and she was awarded the silver medal with a jump of 188 cm.

The high jump champion once again became a representative of the hosts, and years later a German sports magazine put forward the theory that a photographer on the field had pushed the bar. Twenty days later, in September, at an international competition in Zagreb, Croatia, Yordanka Blagoeva became the first Bulgarian athlete to set a world record of 194 cm.

Katya Ivanova points to Yordan Yovchev's silver in the rings at the 2004 Olympics in Greece and Krasimira Gyurova's bronze - she was part of the women's basketball team at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. For the first time, women's basketball was included in the Olympic programme and the Bulgarians finished third behind the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia.

Bulgarian Olympic Glory - Gymnastics

Bulgaria has been a world power in weightlifting for years and its first Olympic weightlifting champion was Norair Nurikian, who won gold in Munich in 1972. He was unbeaten again in Montreal in 1976, becoming the only Bulgarian to win two Olympic titles in the sport.

"We have the powerlifting belt of two-time Olympic champion Norair Nurikian. He used it to lift at both the Munich and Montreal Olympic Games. Inside the belt he has written in pen how much weight he has to lift to become an Olympic champion".

Bulgarian Olympic Glory – Weightlifting

The most successful Olympic Games for Bulgaria were in Moscow in 1980, when the country won 41 medals, including 8 gold, and finished third in the medal tally.

"I am convinced that to become a great champion you have to have talent, but above all you have to work hard," said Katya Ivanova at the final. As well as hard work, you also need extreme self-control, the ability to endure all kinds of hardship and a good dose of luck. This is what we wish to all 46 athletes in 16 disciplines who will represent Bulgaria at the XXXIII Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

Photos: Vesela Krusteva, BGNES, nsb.bg

Posted and translated by Elizabeth Radkova