Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Rayko Petrov was the coach of Bulgaria's first Olympic wrestling champions

Rayko Petrov
Photo: bgolympic.org

Today we mark 10 years since the death of Prof. Rayko Petrov (1930-2011) - one of the greatest figures in the history of Bulgarian wrestling, who turned it into a world power. 

For 15 years Petrov was the coach of Bulgaria's national wrestling team and prepared Bulgaria's first Olympic and world champions in this sport. He was the head of the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation from 1969 to 1990. 

As a coach he participated in 12 consecutive summer Olympic Games. He was part of the Executive Committee of the World Council for Science and Sport at UNESCO and vice-president of the International Wrestling Federation.

He is featured at the International Wrestling Hall of Fame in Oklahoma, USA. He won prestigious awards for the development of wrestling worldwide. 

His research in the field of sports has been translated into a number of languages, including French, English, Spanish, German, Russian, Arabic and others.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Kiril Petkov

PP-DB will vote for Speaker of the Parliament after a signature under their declaration

PP-DB will not support a candidate for Speaker of the 51st Parliament from any party that has not supported the coalition's declaration for a cordon sanitaire against Delyan Peevski. They pointed out that this was the only way to..

published on 11/29/24 4:22 PM

Trial of Bulgarians accused for spying for Russia continues in London

The trial of six Bulgarians accused of spying for Russia continues in the United Kingdom. The head of the "spy cell" Orlin Rusev and Biser Dzhambazov pleaded guilty. Three others - Katrin Ivanova, Vanya Gaberova and Tihomir..

published on 11/29/24 3:40 PM

Eighth failure of the parliament to elect speaker

Today's eighth attempt by the Bulgarian MPs to elect a speaker of the National Assembly also proved unsuccessful. At the beginning of the day, there was a ray of hope that this time the people's representatives would reach a..

published on 11/29/24 2:49 PM