site.btaBulgaria's Bozhidar Saraboyukov Wins Gold at Balkan Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade

Bozhidar Saraboyukov won a gold medal for Bulgaria at the Balkan Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. Bulgarian athletes also brought home two silver and two bronze medals. Silver medals were awarded to Tihomir Ivanov in the high jump and Andrea Savova in the 400-metre dash. Natali Kostova secured bronze in the high jump and Nikola Karamanolov placed third in the 60-metre dash.

The 20-year-old Saraboyukov was the only athlete to achieve a jump over 8 metres in the men’s long jump event, with a result of 8.12 meters. This victory marks Saraboyukov's first Balkan men's title, after coming just one centimetre behind Olympic, World, and European champion Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece at the 2024 Balkan Athletics Championships in Izmir, Turkiye.

Tihomir Ivanov earned silver in the high jump with a leap of 2.19 metres, finishing behind Ukraine’s Vadym Kravchuk.

Andrea Savova secured silver in the women’s 400m with a time of 54.14 seconds, finishing second to Croatia’s Veronika Drljacic, who won with a time of 53.85 seconds.

In the men’s 60m event, Nikola Karamanolov took bronze with a time of 6.69 seconds, while Hristo Iliev finished fourth in 6.72 seconds. Karamanolov was beaten by Turkiye’s Ertan Ozkan (6.63) and Mustafa Kemal Ay (6.65).

Ivan Ivanov placed ninth in the 800m with a time of 1:52.29 minutes.

Kristen Radukanova finished sixth in the women’s 60m with a time of 7.44 seconds.

In the 60m hurdles, Stanislav Stankov finished fourth, and Dobromir Nikolov placed sixth.

Aleks Lyubenov placed fifth in the pole vault.

In the medal standings, Turkiye took first place with six gold, four silver, and eight bronze medals, while Bulgaria ranked seventh. The competition brought together 236 athletes from 16 countries.