Bulgaria competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Bulgaria made their official debut at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Bulgarian athletes had appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympics since 1924, except for three occasions: the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, and the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles because of Bulgaria's actions in WW2, the worldwide Great Depression and the Soviet boycott, respectively.
The Bulgarian Olympic Committee fielded 51 athletes, 29 men and 22 women, across 14 sports at the Games.[2][3] It was the nation's smallest delegation sent to the Olympics since 1956, due to the absence of the men's volleyball squad and the ban of 11 weightlifters over a widespread doping offense.[4][5] Track and field and wrestling accounted for the largest number of athletes on the Bulgarian squad with 11 entries, nearly half of the nation's full roster size. There was only a single competitor each in road cycling, fencing, and modern pentathlon (the country's return to the sport at the Olympic Games after 16 years).
Sixteen Bulgarian athletes competed at London 2012, including four members of the rhythmic gymnastics squad (led by Mihaela Maevska-Velichkova, Albanian-born Elis Guri in Greco-Roman wrestling, pistol shooter and 2015 European Games silver medalist Antoaneta Boneva, and the country's fastest sprinter and two-time European champion Ivet Lalova-Collio in both the women's 100 and 200 metres). Heading to her fourth straight Olympics as the most experienced competitor, Lalova-Collio was selected by the committee to carry the Bulgarian flag at the opening ceremony, the second time by a female in the nation's Summer Olympic history.[1]
Bulgaria returned home from Rio de Janeiro with only three medals (one silver and two bronze), marking a slight improvement from the nation's overall tally at the previous Games (not taking into account subsequent changes to the medal tallies for the 2012 Games due to doping violations).[6] All of Bulgaria's medalists were women for the first time in history; a silver to high jumper Mirela Demireva, and a bronze each to the rhythmic gymnastics group in the group all-around and freestyle wrestler Elitsa Yankova in the women's 48 kg.[7][8]
^ ab"Ивет Лалова ще е българският знаменосец в Рио" [Ivet Lalova will be Bulgaria's flag bearer in Rio] (in Bulgarian). Bulgaria: Dnevnik. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
^"51 спортисти български спортисти до този момент с квоти за Рио" [51 Bulgarian athletes are allowed to compete in Rio] (in Bulgarian). Sportal.bg. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
^"България праща 51 спортисти в Рио с 55 души делегация" [Bulgaria sent 51 athletes to Rio, along with 55 others in the delegation] (in Bulgarian). Bulgaria: Media Pool. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
^"Bulgaria Olympic ban confirmed by Court of Arbitration for Sport". BBC Sport. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
^"Bulgaria's weightlifters get Rio 2016 ban over widespread doping". The Guardian. 20 November 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
^"Bulgaria 65th in Rio Olympics medal standings". Bulgarian National Radio. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
^"Bulgaria with Bronze Medal after Impressive Performance in Rio Rhythmic Gymnastics". Novinite. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
^"Mirela Demireva Brings Home Silver Medal for Bulgaria in Rio Olympics". Novinite. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
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