For two weeks, the world felt the pulse of the Winter Games, Bulgaria’s most successful Winter Olympics ever.
Bulgarian sportsmen snatched more medals than their predecessors had in all other 18 Winter Games combined.
Prior to Salt Lake, media experts, including those from CNN, were convinced that only Evgenia Radanova in short track speed skating could interfere in the fight for medals. Well, Radanova not only interfered, but won two medals - silver in her favoured 500m discipline and bronze in the 1500m.
In addition, her contribution to the Bulgarian relay team was essential in picking up a prestigious sixth place in the 3000m. Unfortunately, on the last Olympic day, February 23, exhaustion prevailed and ruled Radanova out of medal contention on the last short track speed skating event, the 1000m run. She finished fifth after the Chinese and Korean “terminators.”
Biathlonists reaffirmed that there is much Bulgarian talent, capable of reaching Olympic highs. Irina Nikulchina, considered a debutante in biathlon, snatched the bronze after remarkable sprint and shooting in the 10km pursuit. Several days later, she was again impressive in the 4 x 7.5km relay, where along with Pavlina Filipova, Iva Shkodreva and Ekaterina Dafovska, the team was just six seconds short of a third place finish. Still, they convinced all experts that Bulgarian biathlon is on the upswing.
Along with short track speed skating and biathlon, Bulgaria turned some heads in figure skating. After a top 10 placement on the last world championship in 2001, Bulgarian dance couple Albena Denkova and Maxim Stavijski passed another three couples to take the seventh position at the Winter Olympics. Observers argued that the complex virtuoso performance of Bulgaria’s representatives was worthy of a medal, but judges ruled otherwise. The 27-year-old Denkova and the 24-year-old Stavijski are viewed as medal contenders at the next Olympics in 2006, in Torino, Italy.
Bulgaria could have had another convincing performance in figure skating if Ivan Dinev, sixth in the world rankings, had not suffered an injury on the eve of competition. The 23-year-old figure skater was 12th in Nagano four years ago and nobody dared underestimate his potential at Salt Lake. However, while performing a quadruple jump, Dinev sprained his ankle and, despite anaesthetics, could not perform at his best on the Olympic stage.
In an attempt to perform the loop, Dinev fell again and this bid the end to his hopes, dropping him to a disappointing 13th spot.
A serious attempt to challenge the supremacy of established names at Salt Lake was made by Bulgarian Alpine skier Stefan Georgiev. With his 16th spot in the Alpine combination, the 24-year-old Bulgarian surpassed not only the expectations of his trainers, but also revived the memory of better days for Bulgarian Alpine skiing, when, some 20 years ago, legendary Petar Popangelov became the first Bulgarian to rub shoulders with the world alpine skiing elite.
Due to the country’s unprecedented performance, Bulgaria took the 21st spot in the overall medal rankings in Salt Lake, lining up immediately behind traditionally strong countries such as Sweden, Japan, Poland and Slovenia. In the all-time Olympic medal ratings, Bulgaria earned 24th place. With its five medals - one gold, one silver and three bronze - Bulgarian sportsmen brought the country within the 25 strongest nations in Winter sports.
Having gained new ground on the world stage, one can understand the desire behind the candidature of the Bulgarian capital of Sofia for hosting the Winter Olympic Games in 2014, which was officially raSofia has twice been turned down in similar contests.
Bulgarian sportsmen snatched more medals than their predecessors had in all other 18 Winter Games combined.
Prior to Salt Lake, media experts, including those from CNN, were convinced that only Evgenia Radanova in short track speed skating could interfere in the fight for medals. Well, Radanova not only interfered, but won two medals - silver in her favoured 500m discipline and bronze in the 1500m.
In addition, her contribution to the Bulgarian relay team was essential in picking up a prestigious sixth place in the 3000m. Unfortunately, on the last Olympic day, February 23, exhaustion prevailed and ruled Radanova out of medal contention on the last short track speed skating event, the 1000m run. She finished fifth after the Chinese and Korean “terminators.”
Biathlonists reaffirmed that there is much Bulgarian talent, capable of reaching Olympic highs. Irina Nikulchina, considered a debutante in biathlon, snatched the bronze after remarkable sprint and shooting in the 10km pursuit. Several days later, she was again impressive in the 4 x 7.5km relay, where along with Pavlina Filipova, Iva Shkodreva and Ekaterina Dafovska, the team was just six seconds short of a third place finish. Still, they convinced all experts that Bulgarian biathlon is on the upswing.
Along with short track speed skating and biathlon, Bulgaria turned some heads in figure skating. After a top 10 placement on the last world championship in 2001, Bulgarian dance couple Albena Denkova and Maxim Stavijski passed another three couples to take the seventh position at the Winter Olympics. Observers argued that the complex virtuoso performance of Bulgaria’s representatives was worthy of a medal, but judges ruled otherwise. The 27-year-old Denkova and the 24-year-old Stavijski are viewed as medal contenders at the next Olympics in 2006, in Torino, Italy.
Bulgaria could have had another convincing performance in figure skating if Ivan Dinev, sixth in the world rankings, had not suffered an injury on the eve of competition. The 23-year-old figure skater was 12th in Nagano four years ago and nobody dared underestimate his potential at Salt Lake. However, while performing a quadruple jump, Dinev sprained his ankle and, despite anaesthetics, could not perform at his best on the Olympic stage.
In an attempt to perform the loop, Dinev fell again and this bid the end to his hopes, dropping him to a disappointing 13th spot.
A serious attempt to challenge the supremacy of established names at Salt Lake was made by Bulgarian Alpine skier Stefan Georgiev. With his 16th spot in the Alpine combination, the 24-year-old Bulgarian surpassed not only the expectations of his trainers, but also revived the memory of better days for Bulgarian Alpine skiing, when, some 20 years ago, legendary Petar Popangelov became the first Bulgarian to rub shoulders with the world alpine skiing elite.
Due to the country’s unprecedented performance, Bulgaria took the 21st spot in the overall medal rankings in Salt Lake, lining up immediately behind traditionally strong countries such as Sweden, Japan, Poland and Slovenia. In the all-time Olympic medal ratings, Bulgaria earned 24th place. With its five medals - one gold, one silver and three bronze - Bulgarian sportsmen brought the country within the 25 strongest nations in Winter sports.
Having gained new ground on the world stage, one can understand the desire behind the candidature of the Bulgarian capital of Sofia for hosting the Winter Olympic Games in 2014, which was officially raSofia has twice been turned down in similar contests.
