Nikolay Petkov Bukhalov (, born 20 March 1967 in

Karlovo Karlovo ( ) is a historically important town in central Bulgaria located in a fertile valley along the river Stryama at the southern foot of the Balkan Mountains. It is administratively part of Plovdiv Province and has a population of about 1 ...

) is

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

's most successful ever

sprint canoeist Canoe sprint is a water sport in which athletes race in specially designed sprint canoes or sprint kayaks on calm water over a short distance. Prior to November 2008, canoe sprint was known as flatwater racing. The term is still in use today ...

. He competed mostly in the

Canadian canoe Canadian is the byname used in some countries for the descendants of the birch bark canoe that was used by the indigenous peoples of Northern America as a convenient means of transportation in the densely forested and impassable areas of No ...

C-1 event though he did win

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

medals in the C-4 events. Competing in four

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

, he won three medals, including double gold at Barcelona in 1992. In addition, he won thirteen medals at the

ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships are an international event in canoe racing, one of two top-tier Summer Olympic sport events organized by the International Canoe Federation (the other being the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships). They ...

with five golds (C-1 200 m:

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

; C-1 500 m:

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, 1994, 1995), three silvers (C-1 500 m:

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, C-1 1000 m: 1991, 1994), and five bronzes (C-1 500 m:

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

, C-4 500 m:

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, C-4 1000 m:

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, 1990, 1991). The final gold medal of his career came at the 1997 European Championships, held on his home course in

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

, where he won the C-1 500 m title. Bukhalov was a member of the Trakia club in Plovdiv and was coached by Georgi Uchkunov. He is tall and raced at .

References

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External links

* * * 1967 births Living people Bulgarian male canoeists Olympic canoeists for Bulgaria Olympic gold medalists for Bulgaria Olympic bronze medalists for Bulgaria Olympic medalists in canoeing Canoeists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in Canadian Sportspeople from Plovdiv People from Karlovo Sportspeople from Plovdiv Province 20th-century Bulgarian sportsmen 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen {{Bulgaria-Olympic-medalist-stub