Bulgarian athletes recorded the second most successful Winter Olympics in history for the country in terms of number of medals won at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Games, BTA reported.
Snowboarder Tervel Zamfirov and biathlete Lora Hristova earned bronze medals, and the national athletes made four more top 10 rankings in individual disciplines.
This is significant progress compared to Beijing 2022, when only alpine skier Albert Popov made it into the top ten, finishing ninth in the slalom.
The 20-year-old Zamfirov earned a place on the podium on the second competition day on February 8 in the parallel giant slalom in Livigno brought the country its first medal since Turin 2006, when Evgenia Radanova became vice-champion in the 500-meter short track again on Italian soil - in Turin.
Three days later, the 22-year-old Hristova finished third in the 15-kilometer individual start in Antholz-Anterselva.
Thus, with the two medals won, the Bulgarian athletes came close to their best performance at the Salt Lake City 2022 Winter Games, when the Bulgarian athletes climbed the podium three times.
Ekaterina Dafovska remains the only Olympic champion, after triumphing in the 15-kilometer individual start in the biathlon in Nagano 1998.
The first medal for Bulgaria was won in 1980 by Ivan Lebanov - bronze in the 30-kilometer cross-country skiing. Irina Nikulchina from Salt Lake City 2002 won a bronze medal in the biathlon pursuit.
Radanova remains the most successful in terms of the number of medals she has won - three in the short track - silver at 500 meters and bronze at 1500 meters in Salt Lake City 2002 and again silver from Turin 2006.
Bulgaria now has a total of eight medals from the Winter Olympics - 1 gold, 2 silver and 5 bronze.
Alpine snowboarding definitely lived up to expectations, given the series of prize rankings of the Bulgarians during the season in the World Cup, and Zamfirov's medal was a fully deserved award.
Also worth noting in this sport are the achievements of 16-year-old Malena Zamfirova, younger sister of Tervel Zamfirov, who recorded a prestigious ranking in the top 10. in the women's parallel giant slalom in Livigno, finishing tenth.
Another native ace in alpine snowboarding, Radoslav Yankov, came in 13th, his best result in his fourth Olympics.
The pleasant surprise came from the strong performance of the Bulgarian athletes in biathlon, which became the most successful sport for the country at the Games in Milan-Cortina. In addition to Hristova's bronze, she recorded seventh place in the pursuit and 11th in the sprint, while Milena Todorova remained one step away from a distinction in the sprint with fourth place and 14th in the pursuit.
With their good rankings in the individual disciplines, the two earned a place in the mass start in Antholz-Anterselva, in which the top 30 competed. So far, only Ekaterina Dafovska has participated in it at the debut of the discipline in Turin 2006.
In the men's biathlon, the Bulgarian athletes performed less well, but the relay team consisting of Blagoy Todev, Vladimir Iliev, Konstantin Vassilev and Anton Sinapov ranked 12th, which is the second best in the history of the Olympics after the eighth in Calgary 1988.
Vladimir Iliev recorded his fifth consecutive participation in the Winter Games in Milan-Cortina.
The 38-year-old Iliev became the second Bulgarian athlete with such an achievement, equaling the record of the two-time world champion and legend in short track Evgenia Radanova, who made it first from Lillehammer 1994 to Vancouver 2010.
The experienced biathlete was also the standard-bearer of the Bulgarian delegation at the opening ceremony at the Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo.
In ski jumping, Vladimir Zografski achieved a record ranking for the country at a Winter Games, finishing tenth on the large hill in Predazzo.
Bulgaria was represented at the Olympics in Milan-Torino by a total of 20 competitors in 6 sports.