Christo Traikow

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Christo Traikow Popow (born September 24, 1947 in Elin Pelin ) is a former Bulgarian wrestler . He was three-time European champion in the Greco-Roman style in bantamweight.

Career

All that is known about Christo Traikov is that he belonged to the sports organization "Dynamo" in Bulgaria and that he was therefore employed in an area that had to do with the state security or the police. He was trained in the Bulgarian national team of wrestlers, to which he belonged from 1968, by Philip Kriwiralchew. He wrestled exclusively in the Greco-Roman style.

As a participant in the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich , he started in bantamweight. He played six fights in Munich, all of which he won on points. After the sixth round he had 6 missing points and had to retire according to the regulations at the time. After the 6th round there were four wrestlers left who still had less than 6 missing points. Among the wrestlers he defeated were u. a. also Rustem Kasakow from the Soviet Union and Hans-Jürgen Veil from the Federal Republic of Germany , who won the gold and silver medals in Munich, while Christo Traikow came away empty-handed and had to be satisfied with 5th place. Due to this fact the international wrestling federation FILA changed the rules after the Olympic Games 1972 in Munich. Now a wrestler, even if he scored 6 missing points, was not eliminated as long as he remained victorious in his fights. For Christo Traikow this regulation came too late.

Christo Traikow began his international wrestling career earlier, namely in 1968. That year he became European bantamweight champion right away when he participated in an international championship in Västerås . On the way there he defeated u. a. Hartmut Puls from the GDR and János Varga from Hungary . At the Olympic Games in Mexico City in 1968 he only won against the Dane Johnny Nielsen and retired early after defeats to Ion Baciu from Romania and David Hazewinkel from the United States and only came in 12th place.

At the 1969 World Cup in Mar del Plata , which took place in March of this year, he won against Risto Björlin from Finland , but accidentally lost again to Baciu and Hazewinkel and came in 9th place. He was unable to take part in the 1969 European Championship in Modena because the socialist states of the time boycotted the European Championship because Italy had banned the GDR flag from being raised.

At the European Championships in 1970 in Berlin (East) Christo Traikow u. a. against Nelson Dawidjan from the USSR and lost again to Ion Baciu, which he finished in 3rd place. At the World Championships that year in Edmonton , he wrestled against the 1968 Olympic bantamweight champion János Varga from Hungary , but lost to David Hazewinkel and just missed a medal with 4th place.

At the 1972 World Cup in Sofia , Christo Traikow defeated János Varga and his feared opponent David Hazewinkel. But he lost in the final against Rustem Kazakow from the Soviet Union and became vice world champion .

In 1972 he was then European bantamweight champion for the second time in Katowice . He defeated u. a. also his second feared opponent Ion Baciu , plus Juri Sokolow from the USSR, Józef Lipień from Poland and Wolfgang Radmacher from the GDR . A defeat against Risto Björlin from Finland did not prevent him from winning the title again, because Björlin was eliminated before reaching the final round. At the Olympic Games in Munich , Christo Trakiow took 5th place under the circumstances described above.

In 1973 Christo Traikow won his third European bantamweight title at the European Championships in Helsinki . On the way to the title he defeated Ivan Frgić from Yugoslavia in the final , while he lost to Juri Sokolow. In the final accounting, however, he had the fewest missing points of his final competitors and was thus European champion . At the 1973 World Cup in Tehran , he achieved five wins and one draw against Olympic champion Rustem Kazakow. Defeats against Per Lindholm from Sweden and Józef Lipień relegated him to 3rd place.

After this world championship, Christo Traikow, although only 26 years old, did not participate in any other international championships. Nothing is known about his further life.

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, EM = European Championship, GR = Greco-Roman style, Ba = bantam weight, back then up to 57 kg body weight)

  • 1968, 3rd place , "Dan Kolew" tournament in Sewljewo, GR, Ba, behind János Varga u. Ion Alionescu , Romania;
  • 1968, 1st place , EM in Västerås , GR, Ba, with victories over Hartmut Puls, Moises Lopez, Spain , János Varga, Ion Alionescu u. Muhsin Altin, Turkey ;
  • 1971, 3rd place , "Iwan-Poddubny" tournament in Minsk , GR, Ba, behind Kassabow a. Nelson Dawidjan, bde. USSR, before Wolfgang Radmacher , GDR;
  • 1971, 2nd place , World Cup in Sofia , GR, Ba, with victories over János Varga, Ali Lachkar, Morocco , Wolfgang Radmacher, GDR a. David Hazewinkel et al. a tie against Rustem Kazakow , USSR;
  • 1972, 1st place , EM in Katowice , GR, Ba, with victories over Józef Lipień, Ernst Hack, Austria , Wolfgang Radmacher, GDR, Juri Sokolow u. Ion Baciu, despite a loss to Risto Björlin;
  • 1973, 3rd place , "Dynamo" -Spartakiade, GR, Ba, behind Klaus Radschinsky, GDR a. before Grossu, USSR;
  • 1973, 2nd place , "Wladyslaus-Pytlasinski" tournament in Warsaw , GR, Ba, behind Ion Baciu u. before Marin Dumitru , Romania;
  • 1973, 1st place , EM in Helsinki , GR, Ba, with victories over Per Lindholm , Sweden, Noricim Spahiu, Albania , Ivan Frgić , Yugoslavia and others. Marin Dumitru et al. despite a loss to Yuri Sokolov;
  • 1973, 3rd place , World Cup in Tehran , GR, Ba, with victories over Pablo Alchapar, Spain, Ratko Raipac, Canada , Hosain Toranian, Iran, Mehmet Uysal, Turkey and others. Ivan Frgić, a draw against Rustem Kazakow u. Defeats against Per Lindholm u. Józef Lipień

swell

  • Professional magazine Athletics , numbers: 3/67, 4/68, 3/71, 5/72
  • Documentation of FILA's International Wrestling Championships , 1876
  • Heavy athletics journal (GDR), number 5

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Traikov, Christ
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Traikow Popow, Christo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bulgarian wrestler
DATE OF BIRTH September 24, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Elin Pelin