Famous Bulgarian Sportspersons

Bulgarian tennis star Grigor Dimitrov had had a career-high ranking of number 3 in singles. The most successful player in Bulgarian tennis history, he has also been in the news for his relationship with Maria Sharapova. Known for his acrobatics and athleticism, he was initially named Baby Federer.

Bulgarian professional boxer Kubrat Pulev has so-far won several titles in super-heavyweight division. These include at the Men’s 2008 European Amateur Boxing Championships and at the Strandzha Cup in 2005, 2006 and 2008. He was one of the two boxers who represented Bulgaria at the 2008 Olympics. Pulev has challenged for the unified heavyweight title in 2014 and in 2020.

Bulgarian chess Grandmaster Veselin Topalov is a former world number 1 and a FIDE World Chess Champion. Starting to play chess at age 8, he became a prodigy soon after. He has been part of 9 Chess Olympiads and also bagged the Chess Oscar in 2005.

Bulgarian wrestler Miroslav Barnyashev, better known as Miro and Rusev, has had a successful career in the US. He is the only Bulgarian to have represented the WWE. He currently represents AEW and is a former United States and TNT champion. Before stepping into wrestling, he also competed in rowing, sambo, and powerlifting.

Born to a footballer father and a handball player mother, Bulgarian former footballer Dimitar Berbatov was no stranger to sports as a child. He made history as a striker and became Bulgaria’s leading goal-scorer of all time. He has also had a successful career with Manchester United, winning 2 Premier Leagues with them.

Bulgarian MMA fighter and sambo artist Blagoy Ivanov, also known as Bagata, has a gold medal in World Sambo Championships. Initially a talented judoka, he rejected an opportunity to represent his country at the Olympics and chose a career in MMA and sambo instead. He currently represents the UFC.

Bulgarian wrestler Miroslav Barnyashev, better known as Miro and Rusev, has had a successful career in the US. He is the only Bulgarian to have represented the WWE. He currently represents AEW and is a former United States and TNT champion. Before stepping into wrestling, he also competed in rowing, sambo, and powerlifting.

Bulgarian former professional football midfielder Stiliyan Alyoshev Petrov achieved several feats during his senior professional career. These include winning Bulgarian Championship once and Bulgarian Cup twice with CSKA Sofia; and ten trophies with Celtic Park including four Scottish Premier League titles and the Scottish Cup thrice. He also reigns as the all-time most-capped player of the Bulgaria national football team.

Tsvetana Pironkova became the first Bulgarian tennis player to reach semi-final of a Grand Slam in singles after defeating five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams at 2010 Wimbledon Championships. Following this Pironkova attained her highest singles ranking of No. 31 in September that year. She bagged a title in Sydney and in 2020 won the Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year Award.

One of the most decorated wrestlers in history, Valentin Yordanov has not only won a gold and a bronze at the Olympics but is also a 7-time World and European Champion. He continued to represent Bulgaria even after moving to the US. He also served as the president of the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation.

Bulgarian professional football-striker Valeri Bojinov made his senior career debut with Lecce and has thus-far has played for seventeen different clubs. He has won Serie B (2006–07) with Juventus; and Serbian SuperLiga (2016–17) and Serbian Cup (2015–16) with Partizan. He currently plays for Septemvri Sofia and also serves as assistant manager to Slavko Matić at the club

Stefka Kostadinova is a Bulgarian former athlete whose world record of 2.09 metres in high jump has stood since 1987. One of the most respected athletes from Bulgaria, Kostadinova has won an Olympic gold medal, two gold medals in World Championships, five gold medals in World Indoor Championships, and four gold medals in European Indoor Championships.

Retired Bulgarian footballer Martin Petrov was known as an attacking midfielder. He has had successful stints with clubs such as CSKA Sofia and Atlético Madrid, winning the Bulgarian Cup with the former and the UEFA Intertoto Cup with the latter. He was named the Bulgarian Footballer of the Year in 2006.

Bulgarian actor, talent-manager, filmmaker and former pro-swimmer Julian Kostov became 10-time National Swimming Champion and received Master of Sport title in Swimming. As an actor Kostov has appeared in different films and series including starring in the film Another Mother's Son. He plays recurring role in Netflix series Shadow and Bone. He founded the production and talent-management company JupiterLights Productions.

Bulgarian footballer Ivelin Popov started his youth career with Septemvri Sofia and later graduated to Turkish and Russian clubs. He won the Russian Premier League with Spartak Moscow and the Bulgarian Cup and Supercup with Litex Lovech. He has also been a Bulgarian Footballer of the Year thrice.

American basketball player Jared Homan started his career with the Greek club Maroussi and later represented teams such as Bayern Munich and Maccabi Ashdod. He has also won the Croatian League and Croatian Cup with Cibona Zagreb and has represented the Bulgarian national basketball team.

Bulgarian amateur boxer Serafim Todorov is not just an Olympic silver medalist but also became the last man to beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a controversial bout which many thought Mayweather had won. A 3-time World and European champion, he was nicknamed Sarafa, or The Money-Changer.

Retired Bulgarian sumo wrestler Kotoōshū Katsunori was initially a Greco-Roman wrestler but switched to sumo after gaining weight. He scripted history as the first sumo wrestler from Europe to bag the Emperor's Cup and had been an ōzeki for 47 consecutive tournaments. He later became a Japanese citizen.

Five-time Olympian Bulgarian athlete Ivet Lalova-Collio is a master of the 100m and 200m sprint. She has been a European Champion and has won gold medals at the European Junior and Indoor Championships. He career almost ended after colliding with a fellow athlete during a warm-up session and breaking her right femur.

Bulgarian footballer Aleksandar Tonev started his career with CSKA Sofia and then went on to play for teams such as Aston Villa and Celtic. He has also played for clubs in Italy and Poland. He now represents Botev Plovdiv as a winger and has also played for the Bulgarian national team.

American-born Bulgarian basketball player Darius Adams started his senior career with the Venezuelan team Guaiqueríes de Margarita after going undrafted by the NBA. He later played for clubs from places such as France, Germany, Ukraine, and China, and now represents the American team Fort Wayne Mad Ants as a point guard.

Bulgarian boxer Tervel Pulev is not just an Olympic bronze medalist but also has 2 silvers and a bronze at the European Championship. He is the brother of heavyweight boxer Kubrat Pulev. He has held the WBA International and the European Union cruiserweight titles. He is also a 3-time Bulgarian Boxer of the Year.

Bulgarian-origin basketball player Sasha Vezenkov was born in Cyprus and grew up in both Cyprus and Greece. He started his career with the Greek club Aris Thessaloniki and later also represented FC Barcelona. He now plays for Olympiacos and the Bulgarian national team. He is the son of former basketball player and coach Sasho.

Though born in the US, basketball player Demarquis "Dee" Bost now plays for the Bulgarian national team. After going undrafted in 2012, he joined the Montenegro-based club Budućnost Podgorica. He has also played for clubs from France, Russia, Venezuela, Turkey, and Poland. He won the 2021 EuroCup with AS Monaco.

Retired American basketball player Priest Lauderdale was selected by the Atlanta Hawks in the 1996 NBA Draft. Known as much for his towering 7’ 4” frame as for his skills, he has represented clubs from countries such as Iran, Cyprus, Bulgaria, China, and Venezuela. While playing for Lukoil Academic, he acquired Bulgarian citizenship.

Professional Bulgarian tennis player Viktoriya Tomova has so far earned 16 ITF titles in singles and12 ITF titles in doubles. Her current WTA singles-ranking of No. 101 attained on July 11, 2022 is her best WTA singles-ranking, while she attained her career-high WTA doubles-ranking of No. 254 in August 2014. Tomova plays for the Bulgaria Fed Cup team as well.

Retired Bulgarian tennis player Magdalena Maleeva has had a career-high ranking of 4 in singles and 13 in doubles. She is also a 2-time Olympian and has won 10 singles titles throughout her illustrious career. She is one of the three Maleeva sisters, the daughters of former tennis player Yuliya Berberyan.

Former Bulgarian gymnast and current president of Bulgarian Gymnastics Federation Yordan Yovchev competed in six successive Olympic Games and won two bronze in 2000 and one silver and one bronze in 2004. Other achievements of Yovchev includes winning four gold medals at the World Championships, two each in 2001 and 2003; and one gold at European Men's Championships in 2002.

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Bulgarian-born Turkish weightlifter Halil Mutlu has also been a 5-time World Champion and a 9-time European Champion. He also enjoys wrestling in his leisure time. He was disqualified from the 2005 Sofia European Championship due to a 2-year ban for testing positive for a banned steroid.

Bulgarian male weightlifter Karlos Nasar won a gold medal in the 81 kg category at the 2021 World Weightlifting Championships setting world record in clean and jerk 208 kg event for 81 kg weight class. Other achievements of Nasar includes winning a silver medal each in 2021 (81 Kg category) and 2022 (89 kg category) at the European Weightlifting Championships.

Bulgarian professional wrestler and MMA-fighter Dan Kolov was the first European freestyle wrestling champion from his country. Initially self-taught and then trained by Zbyszko Cyganiewicz, Kolov emerged as the first wrestler who became Diamond Belt World Heavyweight Champion twice. He also became European Heavyweight Champion thrice and won several tournaments in the US and one each in Brazil and Japan.     

American retired basketball player Keydren Clark, who also holds Bulgarian citizenship, played at the point guard position and is counted among the most prolific scorers in the history of NCAA Division I. At 5 ft 11 (1.80 m), he emerged as one of the shortest NCAA season scoring leader, achieving the feat twice, in 2004 and 2005.  

Nicknamed The Emperor, Bulgarian volleyball player Matey Kaziyski is not just an Olympian but also a FIVB World Cup and FIVB World Championship bronze medalist. Born to national volleyball player parents, he was naturally drawn to the game and also grew up playing basketball and football.

Bulgarian volleyball-player Tsvetan Sokolov represents Bulgaria men's national volleyball team. Sokolov has achieved several-feats playing for different clubs including winning Champions League thrice and Club World Championship thrice. He earned bronze at 2009 European Championship and participated at 2012 Summer Olympics. He has won Russian Cup once, Russian Championship twice, and Russian SuperCup once with his currently club, Dynamo Moscow.

Cedric Simmons is an American-born Bulgarian basketball player. Apart from playing for popular clubs like Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Olympiacos, Simmons has also represented the Bulgaria men's national basketball team. Over the course of his career, Cedric Simmons has won important championship titles like the FIBA Intercontinental Cup and the Estonian League Championship title.

Yordanka Donkova was 5 when she lost 3 fingers on her right hand in an accident, but that didn’t stop her from becoming one of the best Bulgarian hurdling athletes. She not just won a World Indoor Championship silver but is also an Olympic gold and bronze medalist.

Retired Bulgarian footballer Stanimir Stoilov played for several clubs. Thereafter he served as manager of teams like Bulgarian national team, national team of Kazakhstan and Astana. He presently serves as manager of Levski Sofia. His achievements include winning Bulgarian League four-times and Bulgarian Cup five-times as player and Bulgarian League twice and Bulgarian Cup thrice as manager, both with Levski.  

French badminton player Christo Popov, affiliate with Fos club, attained World Junior number 1 ranking in boys’ singles in January 2020 and won boys’ singles title at the 2020 European Junior Championships. He also won silver in mixed-team, and bronze in mixed-doubles events at the tournament. In 2020, Popov also won the men's singles title at the French national championships.  

While she initially represented Bulgaria, former world number 3 tennis star Manuela Maleeva began playing for Switzerland after her marriage to Swiss tennis coach François Fragnière. Politically vocal, the Olympic bronze medalist co-established the party Yes, Bulgaria! She also owns a foundation that helps disabled children.

Bulgarian tennis player Adrian Andreev had a successful junior career, scripting history as the second Bulgarian to win the US Open, though in doubles. He also bagged a Youth Olympics silver. He later has a career-high global ranking of 319 in singles and 653 in doubles.

Bulgarian singer and basketball player Atanas Kolev commenced his basketball training in the Bulgarian basketball team BC Cherno More and continue to play with them. As singer Kolev is more-famous by his stage-name Nasko. He contested in second season of television music-talent show X Factor Bulgaria in 2013 and finished second. He became winner of VIP Brother Bulgaria in 2018.

Bulgarian chess grandmaster Antoaneta Stefanova was Women's World Champion from 2004 to 2006. She has represented Bulgaria in Women's Chess Olympiad since 1992 and in Chess Olympiad in 2000. Her achievements include winning Bulgarian women's championship in 1995 and 3rd European Individual Women's Championship in June 2002. She became an MP for There Is Such A People party in 2021.

Three-time Olympian Greco-Roman wrestler Armen Nazaryan initially represented Armenia, his country of birth, but then switched to Bulgaria. While he won an Olympic gold and 2 European Championships for Armenia, he also bagged an Olympic gold and 4 European Championships for Bulgaria. He has also been a 3-time World Champion, representing Bulgaria.

Vladimir Stoychev was a Bulgarian diplomat, Colonel General, and Olympic equestrian. As part of the Bulgarian Army, Stoychev took part in the Balkan Wars and the First World War. In the interwar period, Vladimir Stoychev competed at the 1924 and 1928 Olympics as an equestrian. From 1952 to 1987, he served as a member of the International Olympic Committee. 

Once world number 35 in singles, Bulgarian tennis sensation Sesil Karatantcheva is best known for beating tennis legend Venus Williams and reaching the 2005 French Open quarterfinals. From 2009 to 2014, she represented Kazakhstan internationally. She is the daughter of former MP and rower Radoslav Karatantchev.

Bulgarian badminton player Gabriela Stoeva, who specializes in doubles, won 2013 European Junior Badminton Championships with her younger sister, Stefani Stoeva. The pair has thereafter achieved several feats in doubles including becoming European Badminton Champion thrice (2018, 2021, 2022) and winning European Games in 2015. The two sisters also teamed-up and competed at the Summer Olympics in 2016 and 2020.