site.btaOlympic Vice-Champion Boryana Kaleyn Wins 2024 Athlete of Sofia Award

Olympic vice-champion in rhythmic gymnastics Boryana Kaleyn received the 2024 Athlete of Sofia Award at a special ceremony at the Museum of Sports in Sofia on Tuesday.

Kaleyn earned the recognition after winning the individual silver medal at the Paris Olympics and becoming the all-round European champion in Budapest. At the award ceremony, she donated one of the leotards she wore during the 2024 Olympics to the Museum of Sports. "I am very excited to be here and I am happy that I can donate one of my leotards from Paris to the Museum of Sports. This award is an exceptional recognition for me from my hometown, where I trained and have great memories of," Kaleyn said.

Artistic gymnast Valentina Georgieva came in second in the Sofia award poll. She was honoured for her prestigious fifth place in the women's vault event at the Paris Olympics and for her silver medal in the vault event at the European Championships 2024, which was Bulgaria's first women's artistic gymnastics medal in 35 years.

Heavyweight boxer Kubrat Pulev placed third in the poll. In December, he won his fight against Mahmud Char for the Regular World Boxing Association title.

Special awards for merit in sports were presented to fencer Yoana Ilieva, snowboarder Tervel Zamfirov and the head coach of the national fencing team Ivaylo Vodenov.

Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev thanked the athletes and coaches for their accomplishments and emphasized that they are ambassadors of the city and Bulgaria. "Along with that you are also role models, examples for thousands of children and young people to emulate. [...] We will help to ensure that there are more people doing sports, so that there can be more successes and some day this Museum becomes too narrow for all the awards," he said.

"Our capital is home to many talented athletes who represent the country at major sports forums, and their successes are an inspiration for all of us. Today we celebrate not only their achievements, but also the efforts, work and dedication that each of them has put into sports and victory," Youth and Sports Minister Ivan Peshev stated.

"Sports is a priority of the municipal leadership. Our goal is to improve the sports infrastructure, to have more people dedicated to an active and healthy lifestyle, to have more success in sports", Sofia Municipal Council Chair Tsvetomir Petrov emphasized.

At the end of the ceremony, Boryana Kaleyn and youth snowboarding champion Kristian Georgiev were announced as the faces of the initiative "Sofia - European Capital of Sport 2025." "As a face of the initiative, I now have more opportunities to make more young people get interested in the sport," Georgiev said, thanking for the honour.

The 2nd edition of the annual Athlete of Sofia Award was organized by the initiative "Sofia - European Capital of Sport." The poll was conducted among authoritative sports journalists and members of the Media Council of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee.

The top 8 in the poll are:

1. Boryana Kaleyn (rhythmic gymnastics)

2. Valentina Georgieva (artistic gymnastics)

3. Kubrat Pulev (boxing)

4. Edmond Nazaryan (Greco-Roman wrestling)

5. Gabriela Georgieva (swimming)

6. Viktoria Tomova (tennis)

7. Yoana Ilieva (fencing)

8. Kristian Georgiev (snowboarding)

The Bulgarian News Agency has a cooperation agreement with the Museum of Sports.