site.btaSnowboard Coach Anatoliy Zamfirov in Talks to Launch Bulgaria's First Parallel Alpine Ski Team

The head coach of Bulgaria’s national snowboard team, Anatoliy Zamfirov, said that he is in talks with the Bulgarian Ski Federation leadership about creating a national alpine ski team to compete in the parallel disciplines at World Championships. Zamfirov explained that although Bulgaria has limited tradition in alpine skiing, mainly through slalom participation, the potential for development in the most prestigious sport under FIS is significant.

"At World Championships and the Olympics, Bulgaria mostly sends slalom skiers. But the World Ski Championships encompass a wide range of events. We have the conditions to target other disciplines as well. One of them is giant slalom, but a very important discipline missing from the World Cup calendar is parallel giant slalom. It is a team competition that only exists at World Championships. We snowboarders are very skilled in parallel events. It is a short race, different, and unrelated to the giant slalom raced by men and women in the World Cup. I am lobbying the Ski Federation to entrust me with such a team to race in the parallel giant slalom at the next World Championships," he said.

Zamfirov was named Coach of the Month for March after his children, Tervel Zamfirov and Malena Zamfirova, achieved impressive results in both World Cup parallel snowboarding events and the men’s, women’s, and junior World Championships. Tervel Zamfirov became world champion in the men's parallel slalom at the Snowboard World Championships in Switzerland. His sister, 15-year-old Malena Zamfirova, finished seventh in the women's parallel giant slalom at the World Championships in Switzerland and placed second in the World Cup event. Anatoliy Zamfirov said that, in light of the results, no changes to their training are planned. "We will keep doing what we have been doing – riding, having fun, and hoping for even better results at the Olympics. We are on the right track, that is certain. In the four years I have been with the team, we have won one world title in the men’s category, six junior world titles, 16 total medals from junior world championships, two medals from the University Games, and eight medals from the European Cup. Recently, FIS wrote an article about us – they are interested in the Bulgarian model. The Swiss, who have a large budget, took notes on how we work and even adjusted their programme to follow ours. For this year’s summer camps, we already have athletes from Italy and Ukraine signed up. Foreign teams are interested in our experience, so we will not be changing anything for now," Zamfirov said, commenting on the preparations for the 2026 Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.

"We now continue working, and the good news is that the national team keeps growing. It was a great season, and a bright future awaits," Zamfirov concluded.