Bulgaria :: Sport and recreation -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

Sport and recreation

In international sports competition, Bulgarians have excelled in tennis, wrestling, boxing, and gymnastics, but the country’s greatest repute may be in weight lifting. Through the 1980s Bulgaria produced many world and Olympic champions in the sport, to the credit of coach Ivan Abadjiev, who developed innovative training practices. Several Bulgarian athletes have accomplished the rare feat of lifting more than three times their own body weight. Among them was Bulgarian-born Turkish champion Naim Suleymanoglu, who up until 1986 competed for Bulgaria.

Fans of football (soccer), the most popular sport in Bulgaria, were buoyed by the success of the national team in the 1994 World Cup, when it advanced to the semifinal match behind the leadership of forward Hristo Stoichkov. The premier league in Bulgaria has 16 teams, of which four play in Sofia: CSKA, Levski, Salvia, and Lokomotiv.

Bulgarian athletes have considerable facilities at their disposal, including Vasil Levski Stadium, Universiada Hall, Festivalna Hall, and Students’ Sports Complex in Sofia and the Palace of Sport and Culture in Varna; many regional centres also have sports complexes for local use. The major sports event in the country is the National Spartakiad, which involves mass participation of teams, clubs, and individuals in athletics (track and field) and other activities. The Committee for Youth, Physical Education, and Sports is the main governmental body charged with sports administration in the country.

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Bulgaria - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11): The Republic of Bulgaria lies on the Balkan Peninsula in the southeastern corner of Europe. The neighboring Turks of the Ottoman Empire controlled Bulgaria for almost 500 years. The capital is Sofia.
Bulgaria - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up): The Republic of Bulgaria occupies the eastern portion of the Balkan Peninsula. In 1946, some 1,200 years after it was founded as a kingdom, it came under Communist control, which lasted until the great political upheaval in Eastern Europe in 1989-90 and the demand for greater freedom (see communism). Its neighbors are Serbia and Macedonia on the west, Romania on the north, and Greece and Turkey on the south. The Black Sea forms its eastern boundary. Area 42,858 square miles (111,002 square kilometers). Population (2013 est.) 7,268,000.

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