| Noc: | BUL |
| Nocname: | Bulgarian Olympic Committee |
| Games: | Summer Olympics |
| Year: | 2020 |
| Website: | |
| Location: | Tokyo, Japan |
| Competitors: | 42 |
| Sports: | 12 |
| Flagbearer Open: | Maria Grozdeva Josif Miladinov |
| Flagbearer Close: | Simona Dyankova |
| Rank: | 30 |
| Gold: | 3 |
| Silver: | 1 |
| Bronze: | 2 |
| Appearances: | auto |
Bulgaria competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] Bulgarian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympics since 1924, except for three occasions: the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, and the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles because of Bulgaria's actions in World War II and the worldwide Great Depression and Soviet boycott, respectively.
Bulgaria won six medals, with three of them gold, its best result since 2004 in terms of total medals and since 2000 in terms of gold medals. This was the first time since 2008 that Bulgaria had won any gold medals. All 6 medals were won by female athletes. [2]
The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.
| width=180 | Sport | width=55 | Men | width=55 | Women | width=55 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athletics | 1 | 4 | 5 | ||||
| Badminton | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Boxing | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| Canoeing | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Gymnastics | 1 | 7 | 8 | ||||
| Judo | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| Karate | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Shooting | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Swimming | 4 | 1 | 5 | ||||
| Table tennis | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Weightlifting | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| Wrestling | 3 | 4 | 7 | ||||
| Total | 14 | 28 | 42 |
See main article: Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification. Bulgarian athletes further achieved the entry standards, either by qualifying time or by world ranking, in the following track and field events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):[3] [4]
| Athlete | Event | Heat | Semifinal | Final | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | |||
| align=left rowspan=2 | Inna Eftimova | Women's 100 m | 11.46 | 6 | Did not advance | |||
| Women's 200 m | 23.42 | 5 | Did not advance | |||||
| Ivet Lalova-Collio | Women's 200 m | 23.39 | 5 | Did not advance | ||||
| Athlete | Event | Qualification | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Distance | Position | Distance | Position | |||
| Tihomir Ivanov | Men's high jump | 2.17 | 26 | Did not advance | ||
| Gabriela Petrova | Women's triple jump | 13.79 | 22 | Did not advance | ||
| Mirela Demireva | Women's high jump | 1.95 | 14 Q | 1.93 | 12 | |
See main article: Badminton at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Badminton at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification. Bulgaria entered three female badminton players for each of the following events into the Olympic tournament. Rio 2016 Olympian Linda Zechiri was selected among the top 39 individual shuttlers in the women's singles, while sisters Gabriela and Stefani Stoeva secured the women's doubles spot by finishing eighth in the BWF Race to Tokyo Rankings of 15 June 2021.[5]
| Athlete | Event | Group stage | Elimination | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Final / | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Rank | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Rank | |||
| Linda Zechiri | Women's singles | L (16–21, 22–20, 8–21) | L (10–21, 3–21) | 3 | Did not advance | ||||||
| Gabriela Stoeva Stefani Stoeva | Women's doubles | L (23–21, 12–21, 21–23) | L (18–21, 15–21) | W (21–11, 16–21, 21–17) | 3 | Did not advance | |||||
See main article: Boxing at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Boxing at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification. Bulgaria entered one male boxer into the Olympic tournament. Rio 2016 Olympian Daniel Asenov topped the list of eligible boxers from Europe in the men's flyweight division to secure his place on the Bulgarian team based on the IOC's Boxing Task Force Rankings. Stoyka Krasteva secured her spot by scoring a quarterfinal victory at the 2020 European Qualification Tournament in London, United Kingdom.
| Athlete | Event | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank | |||
| Daniel Asenov | Men's flyweight | W 5–0 | L 1–4 | Did not advance | ||||
| Stoyka Krasteva | Women's flyweight | W 3–2 | W 5–0 | W 4–1 | W 5–0 | W 5–0 | ||
| Stanimira Petrova | Women's featherweight | L 2–3 | Did not advance | |||||
See main article: Canoeing at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Canoeing at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification.
With the cancellation of the 2021 Pan American Championships and the lack of eligible competitors available from the Americas in the canoe sprint regatta, Bulgaria accepted the invitation from the International Canoe Federation to send a canoeist in the inaugural women's C-1 200 m to the Games based on the results at the 2019 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Szeged, Hungary.[6]
Qualification Legend: FA = Qualify to final (medal); FB = Qualify to final B (non-medal)See main article: article, Gymnastics at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Gymnastics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification.
Bulgaria entered one artistic gymnast into the Olympic competition. David Huddleston booked a spot in the men's individual all-around and apparatus events, by finishing tenth out of the twelve gymnasts eligible for qualification at the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.
Bulgaria qualified a squad of rhythmic gymnasts for the group all-around by virtue of a top-three finish at the 2018 World Championships in Sofia.[7] Two more rhythmic gymnasts were added to the roster by finishing in the top sixteen of the individual all-around at the 2019 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.[8] The athletes for the individual and group all-around were announced on 1 July 2021.[9]
| Athlete | Event | Qualification | Final | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoop | Ball | Clubs | Ribbon | Total | Rank | Hoop | Ball | Clubs | Ribbon | Total | Rank | |||
| Boryana Kaleyn | align=left rowspan=2 | Individual | 24.100 | 25.800 | 26.600 | 19.150 | 95.650 | 8 Q | 25.900 | 25.625 | 26.650 | 22.450 | 100.625 | 5 |
| Katrin Taseva | 24.450 | 24.600 | 24.400 | 17.650 | 91.100 | 14 | Did not advance | |||||||
See main article: Judo at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Judo at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification. Bulgaria entered three judoka (two men and one women) into the Olympic tournament based on the International Judo Federation Olympics Individual Ranking.[10]
| Athlete | Event | Round of 64 | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Repechage | Final / | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank | |||
| Yanislav Gerchev | Men's −60 kg | W 10–00 | L 00–10 | Did not advance | ||||||
| Ivaylo Ivanov | Men's −81 kg | W 10–00 | L 00–01 | Did not advance | ||||||
| Ivelina Ilieva | Women's−57 kg | W 10–00 | L 00–10 | Did not advance | ||||||
See main article: Karate at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Karate at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification. Bulgaria entered one karateka into the inaugural Olympic tournament. Ivet Goranova qualified directly for the women's kumite 55 kg category by finishing top three at 2021 World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Paris, France.
See main article: article, Shooting at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Shooting at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification. Bulgarian shooters achieved quota places for the following events by virtue of their best finishes at the 2018 ISSF World Championships, the 2019 ISSF World Cup series, European Championships or Games, and European Qualifying Tournament, as long as they obtained a minimum qualifying score (MQS) by May 31, 2020.[11]
| Athlete | Event | Qualification | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | Rank | Points | Rank | |||
| Selin Ali | Women's trap | 115 | 20 | Did not advance | ||
| align=left rowspan=2 | Maria Grozdeva | Women's 10 m air pistol | 559 | 43 | Did not advance | |
| Women's 25 m pistol | 578 | 27 | Did not advance | |||
| align=left rowspan=2 | Antoaneta Kostadinova | Women's 10 m air pistol | 578 | 6 Q | 239.4 | |
| Women's 25 m pistol | 590 | 1 Q | 28 | 4 | ||
See main article: article, Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification. Bulgarian swimmers further achieved qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT), and potentially 1 at the Olympic Selection Time (OST)):[12] [13]
| Athlete | Event | Heat | Semifinal | Final | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | |||
| align=left rowspan=2 | Lyubomir Epitropov | Men's 100 m breaststroke | 1:00.71 | 32 | Did not advance | |||
| Men's 200 m breaststroke | 2:09.68 | 14 Q | 2:10.33 | 15 | Did not advance | |||
| align=left rowspan=2 | Antani Ivanov | Men's 100 m butterfly | 52.25 | 29 | Did not advance | |||
| Men's 200 m butterfly | 1:56.36 | 20 | Did not advance | |||||
| align=left rowspan=2 | Kaloyan Levterov | Men's 100 m backstroke | 55.60 | 37 | Did not advance | |||
| Men's 200 m backstroke | 1:58.96 | 24 | Did not advance | |||||
| Josif Miladinov | Men's 100 m butterfly | 51.28 | 6 Q | 51.06 | 4 Q | 51.49 | 8 | |
| align=left rowspan=2 | Diana Petkova | Women's 100 m breaststroke | 1:10.61 | 34 | Did not advance | |||
| Women's 200 m individual medley | 2:16.70 | 25 | Did not advance | |||||
See main article: Table tennis at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Table tennis at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification. Bulgaria entered one athlete into the table tennis competition at the Games. Polina Trifonova booked the third of four women's singles spots with a third-stage final victory at the European Qualification Tournament in Odivelas, Portugal.[14] [15]
See main article: Weightlifting at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Weightlifting at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification. Bulgarian weightlifters qualified for two quota places at the games, based on the Tokyo 2020 Rankings Qualification List of 11 June 2021.[16]
| Athlete | Event | Snatch | Clean & Jerk | Total | Rank | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Rank | Result | Rank | |||||
| Bozhidar Andreev | Men's −73 kg | 154 | 4 | 184 | 7 | 338 | 5 | |
| Hristo Hristov | Men's −109 kg | 189 | 3 | 219 | 6 | 408 | 5 | |
See main article: article, Wrestling at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Wrestling at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification. Bulgaria qualified seven wrestlers for each of the following classes into the Olympic competition. One of them finished among the top six to book Olympic spots in the women's freestyle 62 kg at the 2019 World Championships, while four additional licenses were awarded to the Bulgarian wrestlers, who progressed to the top two finals of their respective weight categories at the 2021 European Olympic Qualification Tournament in Budapest, Hungary.[17] Two Bulgarian wrestlers claimed one of the remaining slots each in the men's Greco-Roman 77 kg and women's freestyle 68 kg, respectively, to complete the nation's roster at the 2021 World Qualification Tournament in Sofia.[18] [19]
| Athlete | Event | Round of 16 | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Repechage | Final / | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank | |||
| Georgi Vangelov | Men's −57 kg | W 5–0 VT | L 1–4 SP | Did not advance | W 5–0 VT | L 1–3 PP | 5 | |
| Miglena Selishka | Women's −50 kg | W 3–0 PO | L 1–4 SP | Did not advance | 7 | |||
| Evelina Nikolova | Women's −57 kg | W 3–0 PO | W 3–1 PP | L 0–4 ST | W 5–0 VT | |||
| Taybe Yusein | Women's −62 kg | W 3–1 PP | W 4–0 ST | L 2–3 PP | W 4–0 ST | |||
| Mimi Hristova | Women's −68 kg | L 1–3 PP | Did not advance | 11 | ||||
| Athlete | Event | Round of 16 | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Repechage | Final / | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank | |||
| Aik Mnatsakanian | Men's −77 kg | L 1–3 PP | Did not advance | 12 | ||||
| Kiril Milov | Men's −97 kg | W 3–1 PP | L 0–3 PO | Did not advance | 8 | |||