site.btaBulgarian Swimmer Tanya Bogomilova Celebrates 60th Anniversary

Tanya Bogomilova, one of the greatest athletes in Bulgarian Olympic history, turned 60 years old on June 30, 2024.  She was the first and only Bulgarian woman to win Olympic gold in swimming and was named "Athlete of the Year" in the most successful season for Bulgarian sport.

Olympic champion in the 100m breaststroke in Seoul in 1988, with fourth and sixth place in the 200m breaststroke and the medley relay, silver and bronze in the 200m and 100m breaststroke at the World Championships in Madrid 1986, gold in the 200m breaststroke at the European Championships in Sofia 1985, complemented by a European silver in the 100m and the medley relay in Sofia 1986 and Bonn 1989, three bronzes at the European Championships in Rome 1983 (100m breaststroke) and Athens 1991 (100 and 200m breaststroke), gold at the European Cup in Bergen 1984 and 69 national records set - this is the rich sporting career of one of the most popular, loved and successful personalities in Bulgarian history.

Following her triumph in South Korea, Bogomilova won silver at the 1989 Bonn European 100m breaststroke and bronze at the 1991 Athens European 100m and 200m breaststroke. She competed until 1991. After the end of her career, she worked as a coach in Greece and later at the State Agency for Youth and Sports. For many years she was the Executive Director and Secretary General of the Bulgarian Swimming Federation. She is a member of the Technical Committee for Open Water Swimming of FINA (World Swimming Federation), and since 2003 she has been on the Technical Committee for Open Water Swimming of LEN (European Swimming Federation).

At the peak of her fame Bogomilova was crowned "Athlete of Bulgaria Number 1" for 1988 - the most successful year for Bulgarian sport. Back then Bulgaria won 35 Olympic medals, 10 of which were gold.

The Bulgarian Olympic Committee congratulates Tanya Bogomilova on her jubilee and wishes her health, strength and many more victories in life.