Nikola Stanchev

Nikola Nikolow Stantschew ( Bulgarian Никола Николов Станчев ; born September 11, 1930 in Twarditsa , Burgas Oblast , † July 13, 2009 in Sofia ) was a Bulgarian wrestler . He was an Olympic middleweight champion in free style in 1956 and the first ever Bulgarian Olympic champion.

Career

Nikola Stanchev only started wrestling at the age of 18. The sport of wrestling was developing rapidly in Bulgaria in the 1950s. Nikola Stantschew, who after his initial successes became a member of the DCO Uroshi Burgas sports club , was one of the first Bulgarian wrestlers to advance to the top of the world in freestyle wrestling.

In 1953 and 1955 he took second place at the World Youth Festival directed by the socialist states . 1953 in Bucharest in the welterweight behind the Soviet athlete Wachtang Balawadze and in 1955 in Warsaw in the middleweight behind the Iranian Abbas Zandi .

In 1956 he took part in the Olympic Games in Melbourne . There he made it in free style in the middleweight division as the first athlete in Bulgaria to become an Olympic champion since the beginning of the modern Olympic movement . On the way he defeated Giorgi Schirtladse from the Soviet Union , Kazuo Katsuramoto from Japan , Johann Sterr from Germany , Bengt Lindblad from Sweden and Daniel Hodge from the United States.

In 1957, he finished fourth at the Middleweight World Championships in Istanbul in free style . He won over Boleslaw Siderowics from Poland and Hans Sterr on points, fought against Giorgi Schirtlandse and lost to Hasan Güngör from Turkey .

In 1959 and 1960 Nikola Stantschew represented Bulgaria in two country battles against the Federal Republic of Germany . In 1959 he won in Munich over Ernst Ganßert from Frankfurt am Main in the light heavyweight division on points and in 1960 he again won the light heavyweight division in Sofia over Heinz Eichelbaum from Oberhausen on points.

Nikola Stantschew was no longer used at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome . He then ended his career as an active wrestler and became a coach in Burgas. On July 13, 2009 he died unexpectedly in Sofia. He was buried on July 15, 2009 in Burgas.

In October 2009 a newly built multifunctional hall in Burgas was named after him and in 2012 a statue was inaugurated in his hometown.

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, F = free style, We = welterweight, Mi = middleweight, Hs = light heavyweight, back then up to 73 kg, 79 kg and 87 kg body weight)

• 1953, 2nd place , World Youth Festival in Bucharest , F, We, behind Wachtang Balawadze , Soviet Union and in front of Salonen, Finland ;
• 1955, 2nd place , World Youth Festival in Warsaw , F, Wed, behind Abbas Zandi , Iran and in front of Splitek, Czechoslovakia ;
• 1956, gold medal , OS in Melbourne , F, Wed, with victories over Giorgi Schirtladse , USSR, Kazuo Katsuramoto , Japan , Johann Sterr , Germany , Bengt Lindblad , Sweden and Daniel Hodge , USA ;
• 1957, 2nd place , III. intern. Sports games in Moscow , Hs, behind Anatoli Albul , USSR and in front of Takagi, Japan ;
• 1957, 4th place , World Cup in Istanbul , F, Wed, with victories over Boleslaw Sidorowics, Poland and Johann Sterr, a draw against Giorgi Schirtladse and a defeat against Hasan Güngör , Turkey

swell

• Athletics magazine from 1953 to 1960,
• Website of the Institute for Applied Training Sciences at the University of Leipzig,
• Website "www.databaseolympics.com"

Web links

• Profile of Nikola Stantschew at the Institute for Applied Training Science
• Nikola Stantschew in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )