Bulgaria – Gymnastics History

Boriana Stoyanova: The 13-Year-Old Vault Champion

On October 30, 1983, the Budapest Sports Palace erupted as a Bulgarian gymnast in a red leotard stuck her first vault with textbook control. She shuffled back on her second vault, but her score was good enough. For the first time at a women’s World Championships, the Bulgarian anthem—Mila Rodino—played in the arena. Boriana Stoyanova had become the first Bulgarian woman ever to win a world championship gold medal in artistic gymnastics.

Back home, the press called it a zlatna nedelya, a golden Sunday. Bulgaria’s “golden account,” as one paper put it, had finally been opened.

The moment would be replayed, narrated, and commemorated for decades. What took longer to register was that Stoyanova was not 15 when she won gold.

Stoyanova on the front page of the October 31, 1983 edition of *Naroden Sport*, Bulgaria’s main sports newspaper.

1952: A Tri Meet between Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary

In the April of 1952, two of the world’s gymnastics powerhouses—Hungary and Czechoslovakia—faced off during Hungary’s Liberation Day competition. The Hungarian men’s and women’s teams emerged victorious.

But the pre-Olympics rivalry didn’t end there. Weeks later, the two nations met again, this time in Prague, with Bulgaria joining the fray for a tri-nation showdown. Once again, Hungary reigned supreme, besting Czechoslovakia in a decisive repeat performance.

On the women’s side, the ongoing duel between Hungarian stars Ágnes Keleti and Margit Korondi continued, with Keleti winning the all-around—one more twist in a season-long back-and-forth between the two. But it was on the men’s side that perhaps the biggest revelation emerged: Bulgaria’s Stoyan Koev surprised the competition by claiming second place in the all-around.