Bulgaria competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bulgarian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympics since 1924, except for three occasions: the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, and the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles because of Bulgaria's actions in World War II and the worldwide Great Depression and Soviet boycott, respectively.
Bulgaria won six medals, with three of them gold, its best result since 2004 in terms of total medals and since 2000 in terms of gold medals. This was the first time since 2008 that Bulgaria had won any gold medals. All 6 medals were won by female athletes.
Medalists
Medal Name Sport Event Date Ivet Goranova Karate Women's 55 kg Stoyka Krasteva Boxing Women's flyweight Simona DyankovaStefani KiryakovaMadlen RadukanovaLaura TraetsErika Zafirova Gymnastics Women's rhythmic group all-around Antoaneta Kostadinova Shooting Women's 10 m air pistol Taybe Yusein Wrestling Women's freestyle 62 kg Evelina Nikolova Wrestling Women's freestyle 57 kg
Competitors The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games. SportMenWomenTotalAthletics 1 4 5Badminton 0 3 3Boxing 1 2 3Canoeing 0 1 1Gymnastics 1 7 8Judo 2 1 3Karate 0 1 1Shooting 0 3 3Swimming 4 1 5Table tennis011Weightlifting 2 0 2Wrestling 3 4 7 Total 14 28 42
Athletics
Bulgarian athletes further achieved the entry standards, either by qualifying time or by world ranking, in the following track and field events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):
Track & road events AthleteEventHeat SemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankInna EftimovaWomen's 100 m11.466Did not advanceWomen's 200 m23.425Did not advanceIvet Lalova-CollioWomen's 200 m23.395Did not advance
Field events AthleteEventQualificationFinalDistancePositionDistancePositionTihomir IvanovMen's high jump2.1726Did not advanceGabriela PetrovaWomen's triple jump13.7922Did not advanceMirela DemirevaWomen's high jump1.9514 Q1.9312
Badminton
Bulgaria entered three female badminton players for each of the following events into the Olympic tournament. Rio 2016 Olympian Linda Zechiri was selected among the top 39 individual shuttlers in the women's singles, while sisters Gabriela and Stefani Stoeva secured the women's doubles spot by finishing eighth in the BWF Race to Tokyo Rankings of 15 June 2021.
AthleteEventGroup stageEliminationQuarterfinalSemifinalFinal / OppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankLinda ZechiriWomen's singlesL (16–21, 22–20, 8–21)L (10–21, 3–21)3Did not advanceGabriela StoevaStefani StoevaWomen's doublesL (23–21, 12–21, 21–23)L (18–21, 15–21)W (21–11, 16–21, 21–17)3Did not advance
Boxing
Bulgaria entered one male boxer into the Olympic tournament. Rio 2016 Olympian Daniel Asenov topped the list of eligible boxers from Europe in the men's flyweight division to secure his place on the Bulgarian team based on the IOC's Boxing Task Force Rankings. Stoyka Krasteva secured her spot by scoring a quarterfinal victory at the 2020 European Qualification Tournament in London, United Kingdom.
AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankDaniel AsenovMen's flyweightW 5–0L 1–4Did not advanceStoyka KrastevaWomen's flyweightW 3–2W 5–0W 4–1W 5–0W 5–0Stanimira PetrovaWomen's featherweightL 2–3Did not advance
Canoeing
Sprint With the cancellation of the 2021 Pan American Championships and the lack of eligible competitors available from the Americas in the canoe sprint regatta, Bulgaria accepted the invitation from the International Canoe Federation to send a canoeist in the inaugural women's C-1 200 m to the Games based on the results at the 2019 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Szeged, Hungary.
AthleteEventHeatsQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankStaniliya StamenovaWomen's C-1 200 m48.4774 QF48.9395Did not advance Qualification Legend: FA = Qualify to final (medal); FB = Qualify to final B (non-medal)
Gymnastics
Artistic Bulgaria entered one artistic gymnast into the Olympic competition. David Huddleston booked a spot in the men's individual all-around and apparatus events, by finishing tenth out of the twelve gymnasts eligible for qualification at the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.
Men AthleteEventQualificationFinalApparatusTotalRankApparatusTotalRankDavid HuddlestonAll-around12.43311.00012.20014.00013.16611.46674.26559Did not advance
Rhythmic Bulgaria qualified a squad of rhythmic gymnasts for the group all-around by virtue of a top-three finish at the 2018 World Championships in Sofia. Two more rhythmic gymnasts were added to the roster by finishing in the top sixteen of the individual all-around at the 2019 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. The athletes for the individual and group all-around were announced on 1 July 2021.
AthleteEventQualificationFinalHoopBallClubsRibbonTotalRank HoopBallClubsRibbonTotalRankBoryana KaleynIndividual24.10025.80026.60019.15095.6508 Q25.900 25.625 26.65022.450100.6255Katrin Taseva24.45024.60024.40017.650 91.10014Did not advance
AthletesEventQualificationFinal5 balls3 hoops2 clubsTotalRank5 balls3 hoops2 clubsTotalRankSimona DyankovaStefani KiryakovaMadlen RadukanovaLaura TraetsErika ZafirovaGroup47.50044.30091.8001 Q47.55044.55092.100
Judo
Bulgaria entered three judoka (two men and one woman) into the Olympic tournament based on the International Judo Federation Olympics Individual Ranking.
AthleteEventRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsRepechageFinal / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankYanislav GerchevMen's −60 kgW 10–00L 00–10Did not advanceIvaylo IvanovMen's −81 kgW 10–00L 00–01Did not advanceIvelina IlievaWomen's−57 kgW 10–00L 00–10Did not advance
Karate
Bulgaria entered one karateka into the inaugural Olympic tournament. Ivet Goranova qualified directly for the women's kumite 55 kg category by finishing top three at 2021 World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Paris, France.
AthleteEventGroup stageSemifinalsFinalOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankOppositionResultOppositionResultRankIvet GoranovaWomen's −55 kg W 5–2W 5–1W 5–21 QW 4–3W 5–1
Shooting
Bulgarian shooters achieved quota places for the following events by virtue of their best finishes at the 2018 ISSF World Championships, the 2019 ISSF World Cup series, European Championships or Games, and European Qualifying Tournament, as long as they obtained a minimum qualifying score (MQS) by May 31, 2020.
AthleteEventQualificationFinalPointsRankPointsRankSelin AliWomen's trap11520Did not advanceMaria GrozdevaWomen's 10 m air pistol55943Did not advanceWomen's 25 m pistol57827Did not advanceAntoaneta KostadinovaWomen's 10 m air pistol5786 Q239.4Women's 25 m pistol5901 Q284
Swimming
Bulgarian swimmers further achieved qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT), and potentially 1 at the Olympic Selection Time (OST)):
AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankLyubomir EpitropovMen's 100 m breaststroke1:00.7132Did not advanceMen's 200 m breaststroke2:09.6814 Q2:10.3315Did not advanceAntani IvanovMen's 100 m butterfly52.2529Did not advanceMen's 200 m butterfly1:56.3620Did not advanceKaloyan LevterovMen's 100 m backstroke55.6037Did not advanceMen's 200 m backstroke1:58.9624Did not advanceJosif MiladinovMen's 100 m butterfly51.286 Q51.064 Q51.498Diana PetkovaWomen's 100 m breaststroke1:10.6134Did not advanceWomen's 200 m individual medley2:16.7025Did not advance
Table tennis
Bulgaria entered one athlete into the table tennis competition at the Games. Polina Trifonova booked the third of four women's singles spots with a third-stage final victory at the European Qualification Tournament in Odivelas, Portugal.
AthleteEventPreliminaryRound 1Round 2Round 3Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankPolina TrifonovaWomen's singlesW 4–1W 4–3L 1–4Did not advance
Weightlifting
Bulgarian weightlifters qualified for two quota places at the games, based on the Tokyo 2020 Rankings Qualification List of 11 June 2021.
AthleteEventSnatchClean & JerkTotalRankResultRankResultRankBozhidar AndreevMen's −73 kg154418473385Hristo HristovMen's −109 kg189321964085
Wrestling
Bulgaria qualified seven wrestlers for each of the following classes into the Olympic competition. One of them finished among the top six to book Olympic spots in the women's freestyle 62 kg at the 2019 World Championships, while four additional licenses were awarded to the Bulgarian wrestlers, who progressed to the top two finals of their respective weight categories at the 2021 European Olympic Qualification Tournament in Budapest, Hungary. Two Bulgarian wrestlers claimed one of the remaining slots each in the men's Greco-Roman 77 kg and women's freestyle 68 kg, respectively, to complete the nation's roster at the 2021 World Qualification Tournament in Sofia.
Freestyle AthleteEventRound of 16QuarterfinalSemifinalRepechageFinal / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankGeorgi VangelovMen's −57 kgW 5–0 VTL 1–4 SPDid not advanceW 5–0 VTL 1–3 PP5Miglena SelishkaWomen's −50 kgW 3–0 POL 1–4 SPDid not advance7Evelina NikolovaWomen's −57 kgW 3–0 POW 3–1 PPL 0–4 STW 5–0 VTTaybe YuseinWomen's −62 kgW 3–1 PPW 4–0 STL 2–3 PPW 4–0 STMimi HristovaWomen's −68 kgL 1–3 PPDid not advance11
Greco-Roman AthleteEventRound of 16QuarterfinalSemifinalRepechageFinal / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankAik MnatsakanianMen's −77 kgL 1–3 PPDid not advance12Kiril MilovMen's −97 kgW 3–1 PPL 0–3 PODid not advance8
See also Bulgaria at the 2020 Summer Paralympics
References