The great Dimitar Karov will officially receive the highest recognition in volleyball! The Bulgarian volleyball player will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Holyoke, Massachusetts today, October 18. The ceremony is expected to begin at 6:00 p.m. Bulgarian time, bTV reported.
The great setter of the team, which won a silver medal at the 1970 World Championship, is the fourth Bulgarian to be given such an honor. Before him, Dimitar Zlatanov (2007), Boris Gyuderov (2019) and Vasil Simov (2019) were also inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame.
Karov will personally attend the ceremony, and was previously received by the mayor of Holyoke. He is accompanied by the President of the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation Lyubomir Ganev and his partner Kremena Ruseva.
The two volleyball aces did not miss taking pictures next to the wall with those inducted into the Hall of Fame, posing in front of the photos of the glorious Bulgarians.
Dimitar Karov is a legend not only of Bulgarian, but also of world volleyball. Born on November 27, 1943 in Sofia, the distributor initially started practicing football. At the age of 15, he discovered volleyball and took his first steps in the capital's "Septemvri", and then moved to CSKA.
He is a 5-time champion of Bulgaria and won the Bulgarian Cup 3 times with the "Army" team. With CSKA came his greatest triumph - the European Champions Cup in 1969.
Karov is also an important part of the Bulgarian national team. He played in 3 Olympic Games (1964, 1968, 1972) and was the main culprit for the fourth place at the 1972 Munich Games. With Bulgaria, the distributor also became the world vice-champion in 1970.
In 2019, the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) presented him with an award for his overall contribution as one of the best volleyball players in the history of the Old Continent. Karov was among the stars who welcomed the current men's national team, which also won silver at the world championship, when the boys returned home.
Karov is part of the Class of 2025 of the Hall of Fame. It also includes Ivan Milkovic (Serbia), Francesca Piccinini (Italy), Rosa Garcia Rivas (Peru), Kant Steffes - beach volleyball (USA), Laura Ludwig - beach volleyball (Germany), Barry Kuzner - paravolley (Australia), Willy Paredes - referee (Argentina) and Jürgen Wagner - beach volleyball coach (Germany).