Bulgaria at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Bulgaria sent athletes to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing, China. The country was represented by the Bulgarian Olympic Committee.

A total of 70 athletes from Bulgaria took part, with 43 men and 27 women. They competed in 14 different sports, including archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, canoeing, cycling, gymnastics, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, tennis, volleyball, and wrestling.

At the end of the games, Bulgaria won five medals. They earned one gold medal in rowing and one silver medal along with three bronze medals in wrestling. It was a moment of pride for the country as their athletes showed great skill and determination.

Competitors

In total, 70 athletes from Bulgaria took part in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. They competed in 14 different sports.

Sport	Men	Women	Total
Archery	1	0	1
Athletics	7	10	17
Badminton	0	1	1
Boxing	2	–	2
Canoeing	2	0	2
Cycling	2	0	2
Gymnastics	1	9	10
Rowing	2	1	3
Sailing	0	1	1
Shooting	1	3	4
Swimming	3	1	4
Tennis	0	1	1
Volleyball	12	0	12
Wrestling	10	2	12
Total	43	27	70

Medalists

Further information: 2008 Summer Olympics medal table and List of 2008 Summer Olympics medal winners

Bulgaria won five medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics. They earned one gold medal, one silver medal, and three bronze medals.

Medal	Name	Sport	Event
Gold	Rumyana Neykova	Rowing	Women's single sculls
Silver	Stanka Zlateva	Wrestling	Women's freestyle 72 kg
Bronze	Yavor Yanakiev	Wrestling	Men's Greco-Roman 74 kg
Bronze	Radoslav Velikov	Wrestling	Men's freestyle 55 kg
Bronze	Kiril Terziev	Wrestling	Men's freestyle 74 kg

Archery

Main article: Archery at the 2008 Summer Olympics

One Bulgarian athlete took part in the archery events at the 2008 Summer Olympics. His name was Daniel Pavlov, and he competed in the men's individual event.

Athlete	Event	Ranking round		Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
Athlete	Event	Score	Seed	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Daniel Pavlov	Men's individual	618	59	Tsyrempilov (RUS) (6) L 102–112	Did not advance

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Seventeen Bulgarian athletes took part in the athletics events at the 2008 Summer Olympics. They competed in both track and road events and field events for both men and women.

Unfortunately, one athlete, Daniela Yordanova, was found to have used a banned substance before the competition.

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
Athlete	Event	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Desislav Gunev	100 m	10.66	6	Did not advance
Desislav Gunev	200 m	21.55	6	Did not advance

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
Athlete	Event	Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Nikolay Atanasov	Long jump	7.54	35	Did not advance
Spas Bukhalov	Pole vault	5.45	=25	Did not advance
Iliyan Efremov	Pole vault	NM	—	Did not advance
Georgi Ivanov	Shot put	NM	—	Did not advance
Momchil Karailiev	Triple jump	17.12	11 Q	16.48	11
Kolyo Neshev	Javelin throw	66.00	36	Did not advance

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
Athlete	Event	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Inna Eftimova	100 m	11.67	4	Did not advance
Inna Eftimova	200 m	23.50	5 Q	23.48	8	Did not advance
Tsvetelina Kirilova	400 m hurdles	55.22	3 Q	—N/a		55.97	8	Did not advance
Ivet Lalova	100 m	11.33	1 Q	11.40	3 Q	11.51	7	Did not advance
Ivet Lalova	200 m	23.13	5 Q	23.15	4	Did not advance
Tezdzhan Naimova	100 m	11.70	5	Did not advance
Dobrinka Shalamanova	3000 m steeplechase	DNF		—N/a				Did not advance
Daniela Yordanova	1500 m	Withdrew for failing the drug test*

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
Athlete	Event	Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Gita Dodova	Triple jump	13.53	25	Did not advance
Venera Getova	Discus throw	54.00	34	Did not advance
Rumyana Karapetrova	Javelin throw	40.15	52	Did not advance

Badminton

Main article: Badminton at the 2008 Summer Olympics

One Bulgarian athlete, Petya Nedelcheva, competed in the women's singles badminton event at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Athlete	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final / BM
Athlete	Event	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Petya Nedelcheva	Women's singles	Persson (SWE) W 21–10, 21–10	Hosny (EGY) W 21–7, 21–4	Wong M C (MAS) L 16–21, 8–21	Did not advance

Boxing

Main article: Boxing at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Two Bulgarian athletes took part in the boxing events. Boris Georgiev competed in the light welterweight category, and Kubrat Pulev competed in the super heavyweight category.

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
Athlete	Event	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Boris Georgiev	Light welterweight	Molina (USA) W 14–1	Mönkh-Erdene (MGL) L 3–10	Did not advance
Kubrat Pulev	Super heavyweight	—N/a	Rivas (COL) L 5–11	Did not advance

Canoeing

Main article: Canoeing at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Two Bulgarian athletes took part in canoeing at the 2008 Summer Olympics. They were Adnan Aliev and Deyan Georgiev, who competed in the men's C-2 500 m and the men's C-2 1,000 m events.

Athlete	Event	Heats		Semifinals		Final
Athlete	Event	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Adnan Aliev Deyan Georgiev	Men's C-2 500 m	1:43.428	5 QS	1:42.891	2 Q	1:43.971	7
Adnan Aliev Deyan Georgiev	Men's C-2 1,000 m	3:54.111	6 QS	3:45.019	4	Did not advance

Cycling

Main article: Cycling at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Two Bulgarian athletes took part in the cycling events. They were Daniel Petrov and Evgeniy Gerganov, who both competed in the men's road race.

Athlete	Event	Time	Rank
Daniel Petrov	Men's road race	Did not finish
Evgeniy Gerganov	Men's road race	Did not finish

Gymnastics

Main article: Gymnastics at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Ten Bulgarian athletes took part in gymnastics at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Nikolina Tankusheva competed in the women's artistic individual all-around, while Yordan Yovchev competed in the men's rings. Elizabeth Paisieva and Simona Peycheva both joined the women's rhythmic individual all-around. Tsveta Kuseva, Yolita Manolova, Zornitsa Marinova, Maya Paunovska, Yoanna Tancheva, and Tatyana Tongova were part of the women's rhythmic team all-around.

Artistic

Men

Women

Rhythmic

Athlete	Event	Qualification								Final
		Apparatus						Total	Rank	Apparatus						Total	Rank
		F	PH	R	V	PB	HB	Total	Rank	F	PH	R	V	PB	HB	Total	Rank
Yordan Yovchev	Rings	—N/a		16.275	—N/a			16.275	2 Q	—N/a		15.525	—N/a			15.525	8

Athlete	Event	Qualification						Final
		Apparatus				Total	Rank	Apparatus				Total	Rank
		F	V	UB	BB	Total	Rank	F	V	UB	BB	Total	Rank
Nikolina Tankusheva	All-around	12.850	13.850	12.700	12.075	51.475	61	Did not advance

Athlete	Event	Qualification						Final
Athlete	Event	Rope	Hoop	Clubs	Ribbon	Total	Rank	Rope	Hoop	Clubs	Ribbon	Total	Rank
Elizabeth Paisieva	Individual	16.175	16.400	16.200	14.525	63.300	19	Did not advance
Simona Peycheva	Individual	16.900	17.125	16.475	16.675	67.175	9 Q	15.975	16.975	16.775	15.750	65.475	10

Athlete	Event	Qualification				Final
Athlete	Event	5 ropes	3 hoops 2 clubs	Total	Rank	5 ropes	3 hoops 2 clubs	Total	Rank
Tsveta Kuseva Yolita Manolova Zornitsa Marinova Maya Paunovska Yoanna Tancheva Tatyana Tongova	Team	16.825	16.875	33.700	5 Q	16.750	16.800	33.550	5

Rowing

Main article: Rowing at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Three Bulgarian athletes took part in the rowing events. Ivo Yanakiev and Martin Yanakiev competed in the men's double sculls, while Rumyana Neykova competed in the women's single sculls.

Men

Women

Athlete	Event	Heats		Repechage		Semifinals		Final
Athlete	Event	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Ivo Yanakiev Martin Yanakiev	Double sculls	6:45.03	4 R	6:24.70	3 SA/B	6:26.62	4 FB	6:45.91	10

Athlete	Event	Heats		Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final
Athlete	Event	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Rumyana Neykova	Single sculls	7:56.07	1 QF	7:22.37	1 SA/B	7:33.29	2 FA	7:22.34

Sailing

Main article: Sailing at the 2008 Summer Olympics

One Bulgarian athlete took part in the sailing events. Her name was Irina Konstantinova-Bontemps, and she competed in the women's sailboard competition.

Athlete	Event	Race											Net points	Final rank
Athlete	Event	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	M*	Net points	Final rank
Irina Konstantinova-Bontemps	RS:X	18	8	8	15	18	17	10	10	2	13	EL	101	12

Shooting

Main article: Shooting at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Four Bulgarian athletes took part in the shooting events at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Desislava Balabanova competed in the women's 10 m air rifle and the women's 50 m rifle three positions. Tanyu Kiryakov competed in the men's 10 m air pistol and the men's 50 m pistol. Mariya Grozdeva and Irena Tanova competed in the women's 10 m air pistol and the women's 25 m pistol.

Men

Women

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
Athlete	Event	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Tanyu Kiryakov	10 m air pistol	580	10	Did not advance
Tanyu Kiryakov	50 m pistol	562	7 Q	656.8	6

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
Athlete	Event	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Desislava Balabanova	10 m air rifle	393	26	Did not advance
Desislava Balabanova	50 m rifle 3 positions	574	28	Did not advance
Mariya Grozdeva	10 m air pistol	382	11	Did not advance
Mariya Grozdeva	25 m pistol	583	5 Q	786.6	5
Irena Tanova	10 m air pistol	377	32	Did not advance
Irena Tanova	25 m pistol	289	37	Did not advance

Swimming

Main article: Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Four Bulgarian athletes took part in the swimming events at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Mihail Alexandrov competed in the men's 100 m breaststroke, men's 200 m breaststroke, and men's 200 m individual medley. Georgi Palazov swam in the men's 100 m butterfly and men's 200 m butterfly. Nina Rangelova joined the women's 200 m freestyle competition, and Petar Stoychev competed in the men's 1,500 m freestyle and the men's 10 km open water.

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
Athlete	Event	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Mihail Alexandrov	100 m breaststroke	1:00.69 NR	14 Q	1:00.61 NR	11	Did not advance
	200 m breaststroke	2:11.94 NR	24	Did not advance
	200 m individual medley	2:00.70	20	Did not advance
Georgi Palazov	100 m butterfly	55.25	60	Did not advance
Georgi Palazov	200 m butterfly	2:01.84	39	Did not advance
Petar Stoychev	1,500 m freestyle	15:28.84	30	—N/a		Did not advance
Petar Stoychev	10 km open water	—N/a				1:52:09.1	6

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
Athlete	Event	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Nina Rangelova	200 m freestyle	2:00.66 NR	30	Did not advance

Tennis

Main article: Tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics

One Bulgarian athlete, Tsvetana Pironkova, competed in the tennis events at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She participated in the women's singles competition.

Athlete	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
Athlete	Event	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Tsvetana Pironkova	Women's singles	Domachowska (POL) W 6–3, 6–4	Cibulková (SVK) L 2–6, 2–6	Did not advance

Volleyball

Main article: Volleyball at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Twelve Bulgarian athletes played in the indoor men's volleyball tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics. They competed in the group stage before moving on to the quarterfinal match.

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Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SPW	SPL	SPR	SW	SL	SR	Qualification
1	United States	5	5	0	10	460	371	1.240	15	4	3.750	Quarterfinals
2	Italy	5	4	1	9	439	401	1.095	13	6	2.167
3	Bulgaria	5	3	2	8	446	440	1.014	10	9	1.111
4	China	5	2	3	7	445	492	0.904	9	13	0.692
5	Venezuela	5	1	4	6	421	451	0.933	8	12	0.667
6	Japan	5	0	5	5	392	448	0.875	4	15	0.267

10 August 2008 (2008-08-10) 20:00	Bulgaria	3–1	China	Capital Indoor Stadium, Beijing Attendance: 11,000 Referees: Laert Souza (BRA), Mitch Davidson (CAN)
	(25–20, 25–21, 26–28, 25–19) Results Statistics

12 August 2008 (2008-08-12) 22:45	Japan	1–3	Bulgaria	Capital Indoor Stadium, Beijing Attendance: 3,200 Referees: Mitch Davidson (CAN), Victor Rodriguez (PUR)
	(27–29, 25–23, 21–25, 19–25) Results Statistics

14 August 2008 22:30	Bulgaria	1–3	United States	Capital Indoor Stadium, Beijing Attendance: 5,700 Referees: Laert Souza (BRA), Kun-Tae Kim (KOR)
	(29–27, 21–25, 14–25, 24–26) result statistics

16 August 2008 14:50	Italy	3–0	Bulgaria	Capital Indoor Stadium, Beijing Attendance: 8,000 Referees: Umit Sokullu (TUR), Mohammad Shahmiri (IRI)
	(25–20, 25–21, 25–16) result statistics

18 August 2008 10:00	Bulgaria	3–1	Venezuela	Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium, Beijing Attendance: 3,400 Referees: Mohammad Shahmiri (IRI), Laert Souza (BRA)
	(23–25, 25–19, 25–16, 25–22) result statistics

20 August 2008 10:00	Bulgaria	1–3	Russia	Capital Indoor Stadium, Beijing Attendance: 11,500 Referees: Bela Hobor (HUN), Frans Loderus (NED)
	(25–20, 16–25, 22–25, 21–25) result statistics

Wrestling

Main article: Wrestling at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Twelve Bulgarian athletes took part in wrestling events. They competed in different weight categories for men and women in both freestyle and Greco-Roman styles.

Unfortunately, one Bulgarian wrestler, Anatolie Guidea, hurt himself and could not compete. Another wrestler who could have replaced him also could not compete due to a car accident. In the end, a wrestler from the United States took that spot.

Athlete	Event	Qualification	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Repechage 1	Repechage 2	Final / BM
Athlete	Event	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Radoslav Velikov	−55 kg	Bye	Cejudo (USA) L 1–3 ^PP	Did not advance		Bye	Gochashvili (GEO) W 3–1 ^PP	Sevdimov (AZE) W 3–1 ^PP
Serafim Barzakov	−66 kg	Bye	Jung Y-H (KOR) W 3–1 ^PP	Tushishvili (GEO) L 0–3 ^PO	Did not advance				11
Kiril Terziev	−74 kg	Bye	Jokar (IRI) W 3–1 ^PP	Gitinov (KGZ) W 5–0 ^VT	Saitiev (RUS) L 0–5 ^VT	Bye		Fundora (CUB) W 5–0 ^VT
Bozhidar Boyadzhiev	−120 kg	Akhmedov (RUS) L 0–3 ^PO	Did not advance			Masoumi (IRI) L 1–3 ^PP	Did not advance		13

Athlete	Event	Qualification	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Repechage 1	Repechage 2	Final / BM
Athlete	Event	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Venelin Venkov	−55 kg	Sourian (IRI) L 0–5 ^VT	Did not advance						17
Armen Nazaryan	−60 kg	Bedinadze (GEO) W 3–1 ^PP	Sasamoto (JPN) W 3–1 ^PP	Rahimov (AZE) L 1–3 ^PP	Did not advance	Bye	Sheng J (CHN) L 1–3 ^PP	Did not advance	7
Nikolay Gergov	−66 kg	Bye	Eroğlu (TUR) W 3–1 ^PP	Kovalenko (RUS) W 3–1 ^PP	Begaliev (KGZ) L 1–3 ^PP	Bye		Vardanyan (UKR) L 1–3 ^PP	5
Yavor Yanakiev	−74 kg	Bye	Chang Yx (CHN) L 1–3 ^PP	Did not advance		Bye	Barrera (PER) W 3–0 ^PO	Mikhalovich (BLR) W 3–1 ^PP
Kaloyan Dinchev	−96 kg	Bye	Švec (CZE) L 1–3 ^PP	Did not advance					14
Ivan Ivanov	−120 kg	Bye	Szczepaniak (FRA) L 1–3 ^PP	Did not advance					13

Athlete	Event	Qualification	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Repechage 1	Repechage 2	Final / BM
Athlete	Event	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Elina Vaseva	−63 kg	Bye	Dunn (GUM) W 3–0 ^PO	Kartashova (RUS) L 1–3 ^PP	Did not advance	Bye	Shalygina (KAZ) L 1–3 ^PP	Did not advance	7
Stanka Zlateva	−72 kg	—N/a	Akuffo (CAN) W 3–0 ^PO	Unda (ESP) W 3–1 ^PP	Wieszczek (POL) W 3–0 ^PO	Bye		Wang J (CHN) L 0–5 ^VT

Weightlifting controversy

Bulgaria planned to send eight weightlifters to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. However, all of them were removed from the team because they failed tests for a banned substance. This meant Bulgaria did not compete in weightlifting at those games.

Competitors

Medalists

Archery

Athletics

Badminton

Boxing

Canoeing

Cycling

Gymnastics

Artistic

Rhythmic

Rowing

Sailing

Shooting

Swimming

Tennis

Volleyball

Wrestling

Weightlifting controversy

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