Weightlifter Carlos Nassar won the “Sports Icarus of the Year” award of the “Bulgarian Sport” Foundation. The award ceremony is on December 19. He won the Olympic title in Paris with two world records, became the European champion, and in a few days he will lift for the world title.
Our other two wrestling champions, Semyon Novikov and Magomed Ramazanov, will receive the “Impressive Performance” awards.
Boryana Kalein (artistic gymnastics), Javier Ibanez (boxing), Bozhidar Andreev (barbells) and Kimia Alizadeh (taekwondo) will be awarded in the “Worthy Performance” category.
A special prize for Paralympic achievements goes to Rushdie Rushdie, who was also first in Paris.
The European girls’ under-19 volleyball champions have been named “Team of the Year”.
European chess silver medalist Antoineta Stefanova will receive a “Champion Longevity” award.
The 18-year-old saber fencer Emma Neikova was awarded for “High sportsmanship” because of her successes with two hand injuries.
In the “Breakthrough in world sports” category, gymnast Valentina Georgieva, fifth at the Olympics, and rowing competitor Desislava Angelova, sixth in Paris, were awarded.
For “Talented Young Athlete” the awards go to Radina Velichkova (athletics), Nikola Tsolov (F3 driver) and Kaloyana Nalbantova (badminton).
The foundation also gives three special awards to Stiliyana Nikolova (European champion in rhythmic gymnastics), Rami Keuan (European champion in boxing) and Lyubomir Epitropov (European champion in swimming).