BOC Head Judges Bulgarian Olympic Performance 'Very Weak'

From left to right: BOC President, Stefka Kostadinova, Bulgarian President, Rosen Plevneliev, and Sports Minister, Svilen Neykov, at the London Olympics. Photo by BGNES

Stefka Kostadinova, President of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee, BOC, assesses the performance of the Bulgarian athletes at the 2012 London Olympics as "very weak."

"There is no reason at all to be happy with having just two medals. For me this is not an achievement. There are many mistakes in the preparation and in the methods used by coaches, and some of the competitors are at fault as well," Kostadinova, cited by the Bulgarian Dnevnik, says in contradiction of statements of Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, and Sports Minister, Svilen Neykov, who labeled Bulgaria's Olympic presence "successful."

"The world is moving ahead fast and we are lagging behind. It is not true that this is due to the lack funding. There is money. The State gives money. There was some bad luck, but what we need most is a thorough analysis and sound conclusions on all levels – federations, coaches, doctors, sports specialists," the BOC President explains, adding Bulgarian athletes had everything they wanted, BGN millions were spent, and BOC has received high marks for the organization.

She congratulated top achievers – female wrestler, Stanka Zlateva, boxer Tervel Pulev, the national men volleyball team, the rhythmic gymnastics team, and male gymnast, Yordan Yovchev.

Kostadinova further pointed out mistakes in the training that must be fixed grounding her view on Bulgarian athletes "looking tired in London."

Stefka Kostadinova is the reigning world record holder in the women's high jump at 2.09 m, which she jumped during the 1987 World Championships in Rome. Her world record is one of the oldest in modern athletics. Altogether Kostadinova set seven world records - three outdoors and four indoors. She also holds the women's world record for having jumped over 2.00 m 197 times. Kostadinova won the gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, setting an Olympic record of 2.05 m.

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