Bulgaria at the Olympics

Bulgaria at the Olympic Games
Flag of Bulgaria IOC code  BUL NOC Bulgarian Olympic Committee Website www.bgolympic.org (Bulgarian) (English)
Olympic history
Summer Games
1896 1900–1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016
Winter Games
1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014

Bulgaria first participated at the Olympic Games at the inaugural 1896 Games, with a single gymnast. However, since Charles Champaud was a Swiss national living in Sofia, some sources credit his appearance to Switzerland instead.

The Bulgarian Olympic Committee was created in 1923 and first sent a team to the Summer Olympic Games in 1924. The nation has participated in every Summer Games since then, except for 1932 (during the Great Depression), 1948 (after World War II), and 1984, when they participated in the Soviet-led boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics. Bulgaria first participated in the Winter Olympic Games in 1936, and has attended every Winter Games since then.

Bulgarian athletes have won a total of 220 medals, with wrestling and weightlifting as the top medal-producing sports.

After the fall of the communist regime in 1989-1990, in Bulgaria's turbulent transition to free-market democracy, top-notch state support for Bulgarian Olympians disintegrated. Diminishing and marginalized medal returns were evident in the 2012 London Olympics, where Bulgaria, a former top-10 Olympic power in the late 1980s, fell out of the top 50 medal earning countries.

Medal tables

Medals by Summer Games Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank 1896 Athens 1 0 0 0 0 – 1900–1920 did not participate 1924 Paris 24 0 0 0 0 – 1928 Amsterdam 5 0 0 0 0 – 1932 Los Angeles did not participate 1936 Berlin 25 0 0 0 0 – 1948 London did not participate 1952 Helsinki 63 0 0 1 1 40 1956 Melbourne 43 1 3 1 5 19 1960 Rome 98 1 3 3 7 15 1964 Tokyo 63 3 5 2 10 11 1968 Mexico City 112 2 4 3 9 18 1972 Munich 130 6 10 5 21 9 1976 Montreal 158 6 9 7 22 7 1980 Moscow 270 8 16 17 41 3 1984 Los Angeles did not participate 1988 Seoul 171 10 12 13 35 7 1992 Barcelona 138 3 7 6 16 18 1996 Atlanta 110 3 7 5 15 22 2000 Sydney 91 5 6 2 13 16 2004 Athens 95 2 1 9 12 33 2008 Beijing 72 1 1 3 5 42 2012 London 63 0 1 1 2 63 2016 Rio de Janeiro 2020 Tokyo Total 51 85 78 214 23

Medals by Winter Games Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen 7 0 0 0 0 – 1948 St. Moritz 4 0 0 0 0 – 1952 Oslo 10 0 0 0 0 – 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo 7 0 0 0 0 – 1960 Squaw Valley 7 0 0 0 0 – 1964 Innsbruck 7 0 0 0 0 – 1968 Grenoble 6 0 0 0 0 – 1972 Sapporo 4 0 0 0 0 – 1976 Innsbruck 29 0 0 0 0 – 1980 Lake Placid 8 0 0 1 1 17 1984 Sarajevo 16 0 0 0 0 – 1988 Calgary 26 0 0 0 0 – 1992 Albertville 30 0 0 0 0 – 1994 Lillehammer 17 0 0 0 0 – 1998 Nagano 19 1 0 0 1 15 2002 Salt Lake City 23 0 1 2 3 20 2006 Turin 21 0 1 0 1 21 2010 Vancouver 19 0 0 0 0 – 2014 Sochi 18 0 0 0 0 – 2018 Pyeongchang Total 1 2 3 6 28

Medals by summer sport Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total Wrestling 16 32 20 68 Weightlifting 12 16 8 36 Athletics 5 7 6 18 Shooting 4 6 6 16 Boxing 4 5 9 18 Canoeing 4 5 8 17 Rowing 3 4 7 14 Gymnastics 2 4 7 13 Swimming 1 1 1 3 Judo 0 1 2 3 Basketball 0 1 1 2 Football 0 1 1 2 Volleyball 0 1 1 2 Equestrian 0 1 0 1 Tennis 0 0 1 1 Total 51 85 78 214

Medals by winter sport Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total Biathlon 1 0 1 2 Short track speed skating 0 2 1 3 Cross country skiing 0 0 1 1 Total 1 2 3 6

See also

• List of flag bearers for Bulgaria at the Olympics
• Category:Olympic competitors for Bulgaria
• Bulgaria at the Paralympics

External links

• "Bulgaria". International Olympic Committee.
• "Results and Medalists". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee.
• "Olympic Medal Winners". International Olympic Committee.
• "Bulgaria". Sports-Reference.com.