Stoyan Deltchev (, born 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 ...

, July 3, 1959) 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 retired

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the '' Code of Points'' used ...

and a European and Olympic champion. He competed at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, where he won a gold medal in horizontal bar and a bronze medal in the all-around, and he won the all-around at the 1979 European Championships.

Personal life

Deltchev began gymnastics when he was 10; he initially played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, and his father noticed his athleticism and decided to put him in a more individual sport. He has a daughter, Deliana.

Career

Deltchev competed at the 1977 European Championships, where he won the gold medal in the horizontal bar final. That year, at an invitational competition in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, he first competed the horizontal bar move now named after him, which was the first aerial release move on the apparatus. The following year, he competed at the 1978 World Championships, where he finished eighth in the all-around and won two bronze medals in the apparatus finals, one in pommel horse and the other with the horizontal bar, where he tied with Gennady Krysin. In 1979, Deltchev won the all-around at the 1979 European Championships. He was the first man representing a country outside the Soviet Union to win the competition in fourteen years. He also competed at the 1979 World Cup, where he won bronze in the all-around as well as gold on the floor exercise. Deltchev represented Bulgaria at the

, where he won the all-around bronze medal. In the event finals, he became the Olympic champion on the horizontal bar. In an interview about his career in 2002, Deltchev reflected on how he trained many different skills that he was not able to put into his competitive routines, as he was Bulgaria's main gymnast during his career and often traveled to compete. He first succeeded with his eponymous high bar move after watching another gymnast attempt it at his gym; the gymnast's coach encouraged Deltchev to try it, and he managed to regrab the bar on his third attempt. He claimed he invented his eponymous move on the rings by accident after his grip became stuck on the rings. After he finished competing, Deltchev went to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England to coach for several months, before he moved to the United States in 1991. He initially worked in

Napa, California Napa is the largest city and county seat of Napa County, California, Napa County and a principal city of Wine Country in Northern California, United States. Located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the Bay Area, th ...

, and he now owns a gymnastics school in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

. In 2008, he was named to the

International Gymnastics Hall of Fame The International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, located in Oklahoma City, USA, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring the achievements and contributions of the world's greatest competitors, coaches and authorities in artistic gymnastics. The early IG ...

. In 2019, he and other Bulgarian gymnasts such as Boriana Stoyanova were recognized for their achievements at the opening of the 2019 Bulgarian championships.

Eponymous skills

Deltchev has two eponymous skills listed in the men's Code of Points, one on the rings and one on the horizontal bar: His high bar skill, performed on the uneven bars, is also named for him in the women's Code of Points.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deltchev, Stoyan 1959 births Living people Bulgarian male artistic gymnasts 20th-century Bulgarian sportsmen Gymnasts from Plovdiv Bulgarian emigrants to the United States Gymnasts at the 1976 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for Bulgaria Olympic gold medalists for Bulgaria Olympic medalists in gymnastics Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships European champions in gymnastics