The Bulgarian national flag was raised in the Olympic village in Salt Lake City in the US on Sunday. The Bulgarian squad has been training according to schedule, encountering few problems with transportation, service and food.
Bobsled competitors concluded ground training and have already tested out the track. The short track team, which had been training in Colorado, returned to the Olympic village. It was agreed that, in good weather, the national banner would be carried by Olympic champion Ekaterina Dafovska or by three-time European short track champion Evgenia Radanova. If temperatures fall, the flag would be entrusted to a male skier or bobsledder.
Because of the Russian airlines Aeroflot, Bulgarian figure skaters Albena Denkova and Maxim Stavijski had a little less time to train. Their flight from Moscow, where they ordinarily train, had a several-hour delay and they arrived together with their Russian trainer Alexei Gorshkov in Sofia last Saturday, taking off for the US the next day.
“We added some more complex elements to the original and free programme to achieve a better effect on the audience and judges,” said Denkova upon arriving in Sofia. Because of an injury in the right thigh, she had to take anesthetics.
Injuries have also been slowing down the Bulgarian bobsled team. Problems with the sled were fortunately solved at the last minute. The squad’s pilot is Stefan Vassilev, the pusher is Miroslav Danov and Emil Mladenov is a reserve. Mladenov was called upon after Danov complained of pains in the thigh, while the other reserve, Radoslav Paskalev, withdrew because of a hernia. The team will compete with a two-year old Russian sled, to which some adjustments were made. They are scheduled to have their first start on February 16. The favourites in the event are the US and Germany.
CNN forecasts that Bulgaria will win two medals at the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. According to the experts of the US station, Evgenia Radanova is a favourite for the gold in the 500m short track and in the 1000m she will be second to China’s Yang Yang.
The potential of the Asian could be seen in her name, which in Chinese means “flying banner.” The Bulgarian relay team will not reach the medals, said CNN. In the women’s relay, representatives of Korea and China are to claim the gold, while on the men’s side the greatest chance goes to the Koreans.
In the biathlon, where Bulgarian hopes are connected primarily with Olympic champion Ekaterina Dafovska, CNN expects a Scandinavian triumph.
Bulgaria, however, is far ahead of Scandinavians and even the US and Germany regarding the awards given for winning an Olympic title. The State Agency for Youth and Sports will allot 100,000 leva (51,000 euros) for a gold medal. With such an award fund, Bulgaria sits fifth in the rankings, ahead of the US with 28,900 euros and Germany with 15,000 euros. On top of the rankings is Russia, which will pay to each golden medallist 115,000 euros. Four years ago, Russia was again most generous.
In the current rankings, the surprising second place belongs to Belarus with 69,300 euros. Next is the Republic of Korea with 57,100 euros and Ukraine with 55,500 euros. Bulgaria is ready to pay 35,800 euros for a silver medal and 25,600 euros for a bronze. There are, however, countries such as Yugoslavia, Sweden and Norway, who have prepared no federal awards. Their reasoning is that the state has already spent enough for Olympic preparation.
Out of all federations of winter sports in Bulgaria, the most financially powerful is the one of the biathlon. Each biathlonist will get a Ford in return for a gold medal in Salt Lake City. About 30,000 leva is the award for a top six ranking. The sum is secured by the general sponsor of the federation, the German thermal appliances firm Techem. Between 16,000 and 20,000 leva will come from the International Biathlon Union. Bulgarian biathlon-ists start on February 11 in the 15km run for women, the discipline where Dafovska won the gold medal in Nagano 1998.
The first Bulgarian to debut in Salt Lake City will be ski jumper Georgi Zharkov today, the opening day of the Games. The next day will feature ski runners in the 30km event. Besides Slavcho Batinkov, Ivan Bariakov got a pass at the last moment.
But maybe the most interesting days for Bulgarians will be February 16 and the closing day of the Games (February 23), with the final women’s runs in the 500m and 1000m short track speed skating. Bulgarians will also likely follow the finals of the figure skaters from February 14 to 18, when the strong-est representatives of Bulgaria, Ivan Dinev and Denkova-Stavijski will defend their status as world-class competitors.
Bobsled competitors concluded ground training and have already tested out the track. The short track team, which had been training in Colorado, returned to the Olympic village. It was agreed that, in good weather, the national banner would be carried by Olympic champion Ekaterina Dafovska or by three-time European short track champion Evgenia Radanova. If temperatures fall, the flag would be entrusted to a male skier or bobsledder.
Because of the Russian airlines Aeroflot, Bulgarian figure skaters Albena Denkova and Maxim Stavijski had a little less time to train. Their flight from Moscow, where they ordinarily train, had a several-hour delay and they arrived together with their Russian trainer Alexei Gorshkov in Sofia last Saturday, taking off for the US the next day.
“We added some more complex elements to the original and free programme to achieve a better effect on the audience and judges,” said Denkova upon arriving in Sofia. Because of an injury in the right thigh, she had to take anesthetics.
Injuries have also been slowing down the Bulgarian bobsled team. Problems with the sled were fortunately solved at the last minute. The squad’s pilot is Stefan Vassilev, the pusher is Miroslav Danov and Emil Mladenov is a reserve. Mladenov was called upon after Danov complained of pains in the thigh, while the other reserve, Radoslav Paskalev, withdrew because of a hernia. The team will compete with a two-year old Russian sled, to which some adjustments were made. They are scheduled to have their first start on February 16. The favourites in the event are the US and Germany.
CNN forecasts that Bulgaria will win two medals at the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. According to the experts of the US station, Evgenia Radanova is a favourite for the gold in the 500m short track and in the 1000m she will be second to China’s Yang Yang.
The potential of the Asian could be seen in her name, which in Chinese means “flying banner.” The Bulgarian relay team will not reach the medals, said CNN. In the women’s relay, representatives of Korea and China are to claim the gold, while on the men’s side the greatest chance goes to the Koreans.
In the biathlon, where Bulgarian hopes are connected primarily with Olympic champion Ekaterina Dafovska, CNN expects a Scandinavian triumph.
Bulgaria, however, is far ahead of Scandinavians and even the US and Germany regarding the awards given for winning an Olympic title. The State Agency for Youth and Sports will allot 100,000 leva (51,000 euros) for a gold medal. With such an award fund, Bulgaria sits fifth in the rankings, ahead of the US with 28,900 euros and Germany with 15,000 euros. On top of the rankings is Russia, which will pay to each golden medallist 115,000 euros. Four years ago, Russia was again most generous.
In the current rankings, the surprising second place belongs to Belarus with 69,300 euros. Next is the Republic of Korea with 57,100 euros and Ukraine with 55,500 euros. Bulgaria is ready to pay 35,800 euros for a silver medal and 25,600 euros for a bronze. There are, however, countries such as Yugoslavia, Sweden and Norway, who have prepared no federal awards. Their reasoning is that the state has already spent enough for Olympic preparation.
Out of all federations of winter sports in Bulgaria, the most financially powerful is the one of the biathlon. Each biathlonist will get a Ford in return for a gold medal in Salt Lake City. About 30,000 leva is the award for a top six ranking. The sum is secured by the general sponsor of the federation, the German thermal appliances firm Techem. Between 16,000 and 20,000 leva will come from the International Biathlon Union. Bulgarian biathlon-ists start on February 11 in the 15km run for women, the discipline where Dafovska won the gold medal in Nagano 1998.
The first Bulgarian to debut in Salt Lake City will be ski jumper Georgi Zharkov today, the opening day of the Games. The next day will feature ski runners in the 30km event. Besides Slavcho Batinkov, Ivan Bariakov got a pass at the last moment.
But maybe the most interesting days for Bulgarians will be February 16 and the closing day of the Games (February 23), with the final women’s runs in the 500m and 1000m short track speed skating. Bulgarians will also likely follow the finals of the figure skaters from February 14 to 18, when the strong-est representatives of Bulgaria, Ivan Dinev and Denkova-Stavijski will defend their status as world-class competitors.
