site.btaBOC President-Elect Hails Bulgaria’s Winter Olympics 2026 Performance as Best in 20 Years

Bulgarian Olympic Committee (BOC) President-elect Vesela Lecheva gave high marks to Bulgaria’s performance at the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, describing it as the country’s most successful in the past 20 years. In an interview for BTA and two other media outlets on Monday, Lecheva said Bulgarian athletes had delivered "something exceptional" at the Games.

At the 2026 Winter Olympics, which opened on February 6 and run until February 22, Bulgaria has so far won two bronze medals – through Tervel Zamfirov in alpine snowboarding and Lora Hristova in biathlon. 

Bulgarian athletes also recorded several prestigious finishes, including top-10 placements by Milena Todorova (fourth in the biathlon sprint), Hristova (seventh in the pursuit), Malena Zamfirova (tenth in alpine snowboarding) and Vladimir Zografski (tenth in the large hill ski jumping event). 

The newly elected BOC leadership, headed by Lecheva, has not yet been registered in the Commercial Register due to ongoing court appeals. On May 17, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that it had provisionally recognized the results of the BOC Elective General Assembly on March 19, 2025, confirming that Lecheva and her team are the only individuals authorized to represent the BOC to the IOC, within the Olympic Movement, and at all IOC-recognized events and Games.

"My assessment is that our athletes have shown something extraordinary at these Olympic Games so far. Their performances in snowboarding were incredible – truly exceptional. Congratulations to each and every one of them," Lecheva said.

She stressed that the Bulgarian athletes are "extremely young and talented", describing them as highly promising and saying their achievements had made the nation "extremely proud".

"The very fact that we have athletes in the top 10 – not just the two bronze medals, but also Milena Todorova’s fourth place and the tenth places – this is a fantastic performance, especially considering the giants such as Norway, Sweden, Austria and Germany, countries with enormous traditions, resources and far better conditions than ours. It shows how advanced and how talented our young athletes are," she added.

Lecheva also extended congratulations and thanks to the coaching teams for their years of effort and sacrifice behind each success.

She highlighted the issue of insufficient funding for sports federations, echoing concerns voiced by Atanas Furnadzhiev, president of the Bulgarian Biathlon Federation, whose sport has been Bulgaria’s most successful at the Milan-Cortina Games.

"Not only Bulgarian biathlon is underfunded. I can say that about sport as a whole," Lecheva said, reiterating her longstanding position on the need to modernize sports infrastructure in Bulgaria.

She called on future governments to demonstrate strong political will to address these issues step by step, including continued development of the coaching support programme.

"The coach is the most important link in an athlete’s preparation. Our focus must be on sports infrastructure and coaches. All of this must be accompanied by adequate funding for our athletes’ preparation. When I see the teams and staff of the Norwegians, Austrians and Germans, it is clear that there is much room for improvement so that our athletes can feel confident that serious support stands behind them. We are obliged to give Bulgaria’s talents a chance," she said.

Lecheva also expressed hope that the state would support the development of sports centres and winter infrastructure, arguing that Bulgaria has strong potential as a winter destination.

She cited Vitosha Mountain near Sofia, as well as Bansko, Pamporovo and Velingrad, as locations with significant potential to host competitions and serve as training centres.

"Sport can bring us pride and opportunity. These heroes we admire today at the Olympic Games can become motivators and role models for thousands of young people. But we need to build facilities and give the younger generation a real chance," Lecheva said.