Radoslav Marinov Velikov (; born 2 September 1983 in Kutsina, Veliko Tarnovo Province) is a

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 ...

n freestyle wrestler. He has been engaged in wrestling since 1997 and he currently competes for Levski Sofia, where his coach is former world champion and triple

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an champion Simeon Shterev, who also used to coach Stanka Zlateva. Velikov won the 2006 World Championships in

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

and came second in 2005 in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. He came second at the European Championships in Varna in 2005 and third in Europe in Sofia in 2007. At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

he came ninth. At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, he won bronze in his category (55

kilogram The kilogram (also spelled kilogramme) is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand grams. It has the unit symbol kg. The word "kilogram" is formed from the combination of the metric prefix kilo- (m ...

s). Velikov clinched the bronze medal in Beijing despite a serious injury of his left knee immediately before the tournament which put his participation in doubt. He nevertheless took part in the Olympics thanks to painkillers. He missed out on another bronze medal at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, losing to Shinichi Yumoto in his bronze medal match.

References

* *

External links

* Living people 1983 births Bulgarian male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for Bulgaria Wrestlers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Bulgaria Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics European Games competitors for Bulgaria Wrestlers at the 2015 European Games World Wrestling Championships medalists Sportspeople from Veliko Tarnovo Province 20th-century Bulgarian people World Wrestling Champions 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen {{Bulgaria-Olympic-medalist-stub