Arm wrestling is rarely talked about in Bulgaria as a prestigious sport, but we can boast with being a world power in this sport as our athletes have become European and world arm wrestling champions more than once. 

Thanks to athletes such as Plamen Dimitrov, Tsvetan Gashevsky, Simon Sharabanski, etc., arm wrestling enjoys great popularity among young people in Bulgaria. There are many strong men all over the country who are looking for increasingly new challenges. The convenience of this sport is that the rules are clear and anyone can train on their own, even equip their own training room at home. And appearing in a competition is not tied to membership in a sports club or the mediation of a proven coach who could pave your way to European and world competitions. Dozens and perhaps hundreds of small arm wrestling tournaments organized by local clubs are held in the Bulgarian capital Sofia and across the country.

• Successful Bulgarian participation at European Armwrestling Championships 2014

The champion Todor Zelenkov is the pride of the entire town of Gorna Oryahovitsa, and his fellow citizens congratulated each other on the victory on social networks and proudly shared footage from the award ceremony itself. Todor is only 20 years old. He has been addicted to this sport since he was a child, and he has been preparing for a competition for only two years in the local club "Lokomotiv 96". Competition in arm wrestling in Todor's hometown is great, so with a lot of hard work and training, he manages to be a strong rival to the best in the discipline. "The most contagious is the example of my two coaches, who are also from Gorna Oryahovitsa," says Todor Zelenkov and continues:

The Bulgarian team at the World Armwrestling Championship in Loutraki, Greece

Photos: Todor Zelenkov's private archive, Facebook/Armwrestling Club - Lokomotiv 96

English publication by Rositsa Petkova