Phenomenal Gymnast Yordan Yovchev to Carry Bulgaria's Flag at Olympics

Yordan Yovchev is set to become the first male gymnast to compete in six Olympic games. Photo by EPA/BGN

Bulgaria's legendary gymnast Yordan Yovchev, who will compete in his six Olympic Games, a record among male gymnasts, will be the country's flag-bearer at London 2012 opening ceremony.

The Bulgarian Olympic Committee initially considered also tennis players Tsvetana Pironkova and Grigor Dimitrov for the honor, but finally decided to grant it to veteran gymnast Yordan Yovchev.

Despite appearing in six Olympics, Yovchev has participated in only one opening ceremony -- that of his debut in Barcelona back in 1992, when he was aged just 19.

Bulgaria's Olympic teams were officially delegated for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London at a ceremony in Sofia on July 15.

The Balkan country has set hopes of winning a number of medals, chiefly in women's sports, ranging from rhythmic gymnastics to sport pistol shooting and wrestling.

Yovchev has been battling serious shoulder injuries and recently admitted he has been trying different types of treatment to ease the pain.

The greying gymnastics veteran won in January a quota for the London Summer Olympics despite a shoulder painful injury. This is will be his sixth participation in Olympic Games for the 39-year-old, a world record in itself.

Yovchev, who is the President of the Bulgarian Gymnastics Federation, said his qualification for London is crucial for both the Federation and the "survival of gymnastics" as a sport in Bulgaria.

After the world championship in November, the gymnasts announced he would focus on the Rings exercise if he qualifies for the Olympics.

Despite his four world titles, he never managed to win Olympic gold.

Yovchev's greatest moment of fame still angers Bulgarians and the story is one of the very few things that can make him look sad.

In the rings competition of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Dimosthenis Tampakos of Greece received a generous score of 9.862. Then Yovchev, with a perfect performance, superior in every way, received a 9.850.

Yovchev said he has been robbed, while Bulgarian media slammed the decision of the judges as the "theft of the century".

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