At the 19th Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, US, Bulgaria will go for the gold in seven different events.
From February 8-23, the Bulgarian delegation will consist of 25 athletes - six biathlonists, nine short track speed skaters, three figure skaters, three Alpine skiers, two bobsledders, a ski runner and a ski jumper.
Although Bulgaria is not among the leading powers in winter sports, it will still have decent representation on the world stage. The country, for instance, has no bobsled track, but still, two Bulgarians, Stefan Vassilev and Miroslav Danov, won an Olympic qualification in this discipline.
Bulgaria also has no standardised ski-jumping track, but managed to send Georgi Jarkov to compete. Slavcho Batinkov, the only ski runner to win a pass for the event, has been living and training in the US for several months. The dance pair, Albena Denkova-Maxim Stavijski, is 10th in the world, which allowed Bulgaria to send a second pair to Salt Lake City.
Of this year’s squad, some 80 per cent are veterans from the previous Olympics in Nagano. The first and, for now, sole champion from the Winter Olympic Games Ekaterina Dafovska will attempt to defend her title from the 15 km biathlon in Nagano. She returned to the track last season after a two-year maternity leave. Unfortunately, in the current season she has not been that convincing and holds 22nd place in the World Cup standings.
The women’s biathlon team, however, remains in the top six. Actually, it was the Olympic title of Dafovska which helped secure financial stability for the Bulgarian biathlon through solid state funding. In addition, the Bulgarian Biathlon Federation won the sponsorship of the German firm for energy and thermal-saving appliances Techem.
The biggest chances for a medal in Salt Lake City, however, revolve around short track speed skating.
World record holder Evgenia Radanova is the only Bulgarian with a medal from an international competition during the 2000-2001 season. In Nagano, Radanova was just 20 years old and not yet mature enough to prevail, but now she is much stronger and more resolute.
Figure skaters Ivan Dinev and the pair Denkova-Stavijski are among the experienced Olympic performers, appearing on this stage for a second time. Dinev is among the top six figure skaters in the world and has every chance to hold on to that position. He confirmed this at the European Championships in Lausanne (January 15-19), where one mistake in the free programme sent him back to seventh place.
Denkova-Stavijski are expected to defend their 10th place spot in the world elite, as well as their sixth place finish in Lausanne - there the two Bulgarian danced superbly and won the hearts of the crowd.
In Alpine skiing, the chances for a good performance from Stefan Georgiev, Angel Pumpalov and Nadezda Vassileva are not that great. Their objective is to finish among the first 20 in the slalom and the alpine combinations. Georgiev and Pumpalov have already qualified for the combination and Vassileva will probably do so once in Salt Lake City. The three Bulgarian skiers have confirmed their places in the slalom, giant and super giant slalom and Georgiev will even ski in the downhill.
At first glance it may look coincidental, but the only medal from a Winter Olympics that Bulgarian skiers have won, was in the US. Exactly 22 years ago at the Olympics Games in Lake Placid, ski runner Ivan Lebanov brought the greatest success to Bulgaria by winning a bronze medal. Ever since, no Bulgarian skier has matched his achievement.
Currently, all Bulgarian hopes in ski running are directed to Batinkov, who has been living and training in the US for six months already. He is the only runner to meet an Olympic quota for Bulgaria and will compete in all five disciplines - the 1.5km sprint, 10km, 15km, 30km and 50km races.
The Bulgarian Ski Federation has no detailed information on his current form, but judging on his results - wins in several competitions in the US - he could deliver a finish in the first 20 of his favourite disciplines, the 10km and 15km. It is quite likely that Batinkov will present a nice surprise, since he is the only sportsman not to have to worry about acclimatisation.
An absolute surprise was the qualification in ski jumping of Georgi Jarkov, who trains exclusively abroad, but he had strong starts in competitions for the Continental Cup. Jarkov might offer a surprise.
Only two starts in the European Cup championships were enough for bobsled pair Stefan Vassilev and Miroslav Danov, former track and field sportsmen, to win a ticket to Salt Lake City.
Bulgarian hopes are concentrated on Radanova in the 500m or 1,000m, but in Olympic competition, anything can happen.
From February 8-23, the Bulgarian delegation will consist of 25 athletes - six biathlonists, nine short track speed skaters, three figure skaters, three Alpine skiers, two bobsledders, a ski runner and a ski jumper.
Although Bulgaria is not among the leading powers in winter sports, it will still have decent representation on the world stage. The country, for instance, has no bobsled track, but still, two Bulgarians, Stefan Vassilev and Miroslav Danov, won an Olympic qualification in this discipline.
Bulgaria also has no standardised ski-jumping track, but managed to send Georgi Jarkov to compete. Slavcho Batinkov, the only ski runner to win a pass for the event, has been living and training in the US for several months. The dance pair, Albena Denkova-Maxim Stavijski, is 10th in the world, which allowed Bulgaria to send a second pair to Salt Lake City.
Of this year’s squad, some 80 per cent are veterans from the previous Olympics in Nagano. The first and, for now, sole champion from the Winter Olympic Games Ekaterina Dafovska will attempt to defend her title from the 15 km biathlon in Nagano. She returned to the track last season after a two-year maternity leave. Unfortunately, in the current season she has not been that convincing and holds 22nd place in the World Cup standings.
The women’s biathlon team, however, remains in the top six. Actually, it was the Olympic title of Dafovska which helped secure financial stability for the Bulgarian biathlon through solid state funding. In addition, the Bulgarian Biathlon Federation won the sponsorship of the German firm for energy and thermal-saving appliances Techem.
The biggest chances for a medal in Salt Lake City, however, revolve around short track speed skating.
World record holder Evgenia Radanova is the only Bulgarian with a medal from an international competition during the 2000-2001 season. In Nagano, Radanova was just 20 years old and not yet mature enough to prevail, but now she is much stronger and more resolute.
Figure skaters Ivan Dinev and the pair Denkova-Stavijski are among the experienced Olympic performers, appearing on this stage for a second time. Dinev is among the top six figure skaters in the world and has every chance to hold on to that position. He confirmed this at the European Championships in Lausanne (January 15-19), where one mistake in the free programme sent him back to seventh place.
Denkova-Stavijski are expected to defend their 10th place spot in the world elite, as well as their sixth place finish in Lausanne - there the two Bulgarian danced superbly and won the hearts of the crowd.
In Alpine skiing, the chances for a good performance from Stefan Georgiev, Angel Pumpalov and Nadezda Vassileva are not that great. Their objective is to finish among the first 20 in the slalom and the alpine combinations. Georgiev and Pumpalov have already qualified for the combination and Vassileva will probably do so once in Salt Lake City. The three Bulgarian skiers have confirmed their places in the slalom, giant and super giant slalom and Georgiev will even ski in the downhill.
At first glance it may look coincidental, but the only medal from a Winter Olympics that Bulgarian skiers have won, was in the US. Exactly 22 years ago at the Olympics Games in Lake Placid, ski runner Ivan Lebanov brought the greatest success to Bulgaria by winning a bronze medal. Ever since, no Bulgarian skier has matched his achievement.
Currently, all Bulgarian hopes in ski running are directed to Batinkov, who has been living and training in the US for six months already. He is the only runner to meet an Olympic quota for Bulgaria and will compete in all five disciplines - the 1.5km sprint, 10km, 15km, 30km and 50km races.
The Bulgarian Ski Federation has no detailed information on his current form, but judging on his results - wins in several competitions in the US - he could deliver a finish in the first 20 of his favourite disciplines, the 10km and 15km. It is quite likely that Batinkov will present a nice surprise, since he is the only sportsman not to have to worry about acclimatisation.
An absolute surprise was the qualification in ski jumping of Georgi Jarkov, who trains exclusively abroad, but he had strong starts in competitions for the Continental Cup. Jarkov might offer a surprise.
Only two starts in the European Cup championships were enough for bobsled pair Stefan Vassilev and Miroslav Danov, former track and field sportsmen, to win a ticket to Salt Lake City.
Bulgarian hopes are concentrated on Radanova in the 500m or 1,000m, but in Olympic competition, anything can happen.
