Valentin Yordanov

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Valentin Yordanov
Personal information
Born (1960-01-26) January 26, 1960 (age 64)
Sandrovo, Ruse Municipality, Bulgaria
Medal record
Men's Freestyle Wrestling
Representing  Bulgaria
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta 52 kg
Bronze medal – third place 1992 Barcelona 52 kg
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1983 Kiev 52 kg
Gold medal – first place 1985 Budapest 52 kg
Gold medal – first place 1987 Clermont-Ferrand 52 kg
Gold medal – first place 1989 Martigny 52 kg
Gold medal – first place 1993 Toronto 52 kg
Gold medal – first place 1994 Istanbul 52 kg
Gold medal – first place 1995 Atlanta 52 kg
Silver medal – second place 1990 Tokyo 52 kg
Silver medal – second place 1991 Varna 52 kg
Bronze medal – third place 1986 Budapest 52 kg

Valentin Yordanov Dimitrov (Bulgarian: Валентин Йорданов Димитров), also transliterated Jordanov (born January 26, 1960) is a retired Bulgarian freestyle wrestler who competed in the up to 52 kg weight class. He is an Olympic gold medalist, seven-time world champion, seven-time European champion, and the only wrestler to hold 10 medals (seven gold, two silver and one bronze) from world championships.[1]

Early Life

He was born in the Bulgarian village of Sandrovo in the Ruse Municipality. He began wrestling at the age of 10, and was coached by Georgi Achev from 1970 to 1978. He did his military service at the sports school of the CSKA Sofia sports club from 1978 to 1980, where he worked with Yancho Patrikov.[2] He won his first European championship in 1980 in Bursa, Turkey, and his first world championship in 1983 in Kiev.[1] He continued to work at the CSKA sports club until 1990.[2] He was one of two people to be named the Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year in 1989.

Team Foxcatcher

In 1990, Yordanov emigrated to the United States, training and living at multi-millionaire John Eleuthère du Pont's Foxcatcher Farm in Pennsylvania while continuing to wrestle for Bulgaria.[2][3] He won a bronze medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in the Freestyle Flyweight 52 kg event and a gold medal in the same event at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.[4]

Post-retirement

He retired from wrestling after the 1996 Olympics. In 1997 he became a member of the Athletes' Commission of FILA, and has been the President of the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation since 1998.[5] He has been a member of the board of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee since 2000. He is married and has two children.[2]

In 2010, convicted murderer du Pont died in prison and bequeathed 80 percent of his estate to Yordanov and his relatives.[6] Du Pont was worth an estimated US$200 million in 1986.[7]

In 2013, Yordanov returned his 1996 Olympic gold medal in protest of the International Olympic Committee's decision to eliminate wrestling from the Olympics.[8]


References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ "Du Pont Relatives Contest Validity of Late Killer's Will", Delaware County Daily Times, June 15, 2011. Retrieved on February 24, 2012.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links


Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Valentin_Yordanov&oldid=5178186"