Bulgaria is located in southeastern Europe, with a population of just over 7 million, but it is this small peninsula country that has no presence on the world map, but it has made remarkable achievements in the history of world sports: from the 1972 Munich Olympic Games to the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, Bulgaria has entered the world's top ten in the total number of gold medals and medals in four consecutive Summer Olympic Games (los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games were not participated), especially at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. They won 41 medals to finish third in the medal table, creating the miracle of being ranked in the world's top three for the first time in Olympic history for a country with a small population of one million. In order to let the old irons who love world sports have a more comprehensive understanding of the development of Bulgarian sports, the author has selected ten legends who have performed well in the history of Bulgarian sports, and now let's travel through the tunnel of time together to relive the heroic and heroic appearance of the sports stars in the rose country!
<h1>One of the legends: Andrei. René. Rosimov (WWE wrestler).</h1>
The legendary giant With Bulgarian origin, Andrei, is the greatest athlete in the history of Major League Wrestling, at his peak he was 2.26 meters tall and weighed 238 kilograms, known as the "eighth wonder" and "giant machine" in the history of world wrestling, and has maintained an amazing record of 15 years of unbeaten success, and is the first player in the world wrestling world to join the WWE Hall of Fame. The giant who swept the professional wrestling world was famous for his superhuman alcohol consumption, once set a record of drinking 156 bottles of beer at a time, and it is said that his stomach capacity is fifty times that of ordinary people!
<h1>Two: Stefka. Costa Dinova (Athletics</h1>).
Known as the "Queen of The High Jump", the Bulgarian track and field athlete Costa Dinova is arguably the greatest athlete in the history of women's high jump. The world record of 2.09 meters, which she set in 1987, has remained unbroken for 33 years and is known as one of the three oldest "beard records" in the history of world athletics. In more than a decade of sports career, she has crossed the 2-meter crossbar 197 times, winning the world indoor and outdoor competitions for 12 consecutive years from 1985 until 1997. In recognition of her great contribution to world athletics, the IAAF voted her one of the "Top 10 Athletes of the World in the 20th Century".
<h1>Three: Nohair. Aram. Nulikin (weightlifting</h1>).
Bulgaria is a country rich in weightlifting genius, in addition to the two pocket superstars who defected to Turkey that year, the original local Hercules are also emerging, in the previous Olympic weightlifting competitions, Bulgarian weightlifters have won 12 gold medals, and the first Olympic gold medal for Bulgaria is their legendary Nulikin. At the 1972 Munich Olympics, he won the gold medal with a total score of 402.5 kg over the former Soviet Union's Shanidze and Hungary's Benedek. Four years later, at the Montreal Olympics, he once again defeated various masters to successfully defend the title. He was also the first Bulgarian weightlifter in history to be inducted into the International Weightlifting Hall of Fame.
<h1>Four: Jordan. Jóvčev (gymnastics</h1>).
Known as the "Evergreen Tree of World Gymnastics", Bulgarian gymnast Jóvčev is the oldest athlete in the world gymnastics world today, serving as the president of the Bulgarian Gymnastics Association for many years, representing the country in six Olympic Games and nine World Championships, in more than 20 years of gymnastics career, he has won 9 world championships, 17 times on the podium of the World Championships, and is the only elderly athlete who has participated in the Olympic gymnastics final as a senior official so far.
<h1>Five: Almen. Nazaryan (classical wrestling).</h1>
Classical wrestling is a traditional bulgarian dominant sport, in the previous Olympic wrestling (including freestyle wrestling) competitions, they have won 16 gold medals, is the first gold medalist in Bulgaria's Yangwei Olympic Games, of which the legendary Nazaryan is one of the outstanding representatives. The Bulgarian-renowned wrestling star competed in four Olympic Games, winning the 52 kg title at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the 2000 Nissidney Olympic Games, as well as the 60 kg championship at the 2002, 2003 and 2005 World Championships.
<h1>Six: Crasimir. Barakov (football).</h1>
Barakov was a world-renowned free-kick master in football more than two decades ago and the soul of the Bulgarian football team that whipped up the whirlwinds of Eastern Europe. As the biggest dark horse of the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States, the Bulgarian team led by Barakov reached the final four of the World Cup in a historic way, and as the captain of the team, Barakov can be described as a great achievement, he conquered the fans with his magical left foot and unparalleled leadership temperament, and was named the best team in the World Cup after the game. During the Bundesliga, he and Elber and Bobic's Stuttgart "troika" was invincible and swept the Bundesliga. In terms of historical status, Barakov is arguably the greatest midfielder in the history of Bulgarian football.
<h1>Seven: Christo. Stoichkov (football).</h1>
The grumpy and stubborn Stojchikov is vividly called "Thunderbolt Fire" by the majority of fans, and is very similar to another Balkan star, Haji, in terms of style and image, and is the first superstar in the history of national football, in the four years of playing for Barcelona, he scored 100 goals for the world's first giants, won the European Golden Boot in 1990, and made the first contribution to Barca's European Champions Cup in 1992. During his time with the Bulgarian national team, he not only contributed to his team's first achievement in the World Cup Final Four, but also the top scorer of this World Cup. In 83 international matches for the national team, he scored 37 goals.
<h1>Eight: Kubrat. Pleev (boxing</h1>).
The former European heavyweight boxing champion Pleev, known as the "Cobra", was the number one challenger of the IBF World Boxing Champion more than a decade ago, in the European boxing world of that year, he was invincible and had almost no opponents, and had achieved a remarkable record of 28 wins and 1 win, of which 14 KO opponents, the only one lost was to the Ukrainian boxing king Krychenko, known as "Dr. Hammer", despite this, Pleev is still considered to be the best heavyweight boxer in the history of Bulgarian professional boxing.
<h1>Nine: Zwetan. Sokolov (volleyball).</h1>
In the world volleyball arena full of strong teams, the Bulgarian men's volleyball team has remained in the top five in the world in recent years, all because they have a world-class receiver Sokolov. The 2.06-meter-tall scoring machine is the pillar of the world's professional team, The Italian Trentino, the spiritual leader of the Bulgarian national team, has won seven European championships and top three world championships for Trentino and Bulgaria, and is the only athlete among the world's men's volleyball players to represent three different clubs on the world cup podium.
<h1>Ten: Grieger. Dimitrov (tennis).</h1>
Tennis star Dimitrov, known as "Little Federer", is the first athlete in the history of Bulgarian tennis to enter the top ten of professional tennis men's singles, the highest ranking in the world has reached the third place, won the ATP Finals in 2017, was once considered the successor of the Swiss king Federer, once because of the love history with the tennis beauty Sharapova and Serena Anderville, and has since declined all the way, and was diagnosed as a new coronavirus positive patient on June 22 this year. I wish the tennis star a speedy recovery and return to the peak.
Bulgarian competitive sports once had a glorious history, in 1990 the upheaval in Eastern Europe made it like other Warsaw Pact countries, fell into a twenty-year trough, from the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games seven Olympic Games, Bulgaria has not regained its former glory in the medal table, the overall strength has always hovered between the world's 20 and 30 places. What are the reasons for the difficulty of restoring bulgaria's sports level to its former glory? Welcome to the old iron who loves sports to participate in the discussion!
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