Blagoy Blagoev (Bulgaria)
History in Color features one of the most memorable Olympic weightlifters of all times Blagoy Blagoev of Team Bulgaria.
Blagoy Blagoev (b. 1956) needs no special introduction for true followers of the Iron Game. In fact, my bet is that many would name him as the best weightlifter of their choice.
Blagoev was a 2x Olympian. He represented his native country Bulgaria at the Summer Olympics in Montreal (1976) and in Moscow (1980). He won a silver Olympic medal in the light heavyweight 1980.
Blagoy Blagoev competed in the 82.5kg and 90kg weight classes. He was a 3x World Champion (1981, 1982, 1983) in the middle heavyweight. He won 4 gold European medals – as a light heavyweight in 1979 and as a middle heavyweight in 1981-1983.
Blagoev won 3 consecutive World Cups in Varna in 1982-1984 and 5 Bulgarian Championships (1979, 1981-1984).
Blagoy Blagoev was a brilliant master of snatch lifting. In his career, he set 18 world records. 13 of them were in the snatch.
His last snatch world record was 195.5kg in the 90kg weight class. It was set 35 years ago, on May 1, 1983 in Varna!