Radoslav Velikov
Bulgarian freestyle wrestler
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Radoslav Marinov Velikov (Bulgarian: Радослав Маринов Великов; born 2 September 1983 in Kutsina, Veliko Tarnovo Province) is a Bulgarian freestyle wrestler. He has been engaged in wrestling since 1997 and he currently competes for Levski Sofia, where his coach is former world champion and triple European champion Simeon Shterev, who also used to coach Stanka Zlateva. Velikov won the 2006 World Championships in Guangzhou and came second in 2005 in Budapest. He came second at the European Championships in Varna in 2005 and third in Europe in Sofia in 2007. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens he came ninth.
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's freestyle wrestling | ||
Representing  Bulgaria | ||
Olympic Games
 | ||
 | 2008 Beijing | 55 kg |
| World Championships | ||
 | 2006 Guangzhou | 55 kg |
 | 2005 Budapest | 55 kg |
| 2011 Istanbul | 55 kg |
| European Championships | ||
| 2005 Varna | 55 kg |
| 2010 Baku | 55 kg |
| 2007 Sofia | 55 kg |
| 2009 Vilnius | 55 kg |
At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, he won bronze in his category (55 kilograms). Velikov clinched the bronze medal in Beijing despite a serious injury of his left knee immediately before the tournament which put his participation in doubt. He nevertheless took part in the Olympics thanks to painkillers.
He missed out on another bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, losing to Shinichi Yumoto in his bronze medal match.[1]
