Oh weightlifters, eh?  

Team Bulgaria final tally is 20 athletes, which give or take a few, has been our norm in every Winter Olympics in the past 30 years. The breakdown is 12 men and 8 women.   Alpine Skiing - 3 (2 M + 1 W)   - Albert Popov - Kalin Zlatkov - Anina Zurbriggen    Biathlon - 8 (4 M + 4 W)   - Vladimir Iliev - Blagoy Todev - Anton Sinapov - Konstantin Vasilev   - Milena Todorova - Lora Hristova - Valentina Dimitrova - Maria Zdravkova   Cross-country - 3 (2 M + 1 W)   - Mario Matikanov - Daniel Peshkov - Kalina Nedyalkova   Figure skating - 1 (0 M + 1 W)   - Alexandra Feigin   Ski-jumping - 1 (1 M + 0 W)   - Vladimir Zografski   Snowboarding - 4 (3 M + 1 W)   - Radoslav Yankov - Tervel Zamfirov - Alexander Krashniak - Malena Zamfirova   Beside the athletes there will be another 33 people delegation of coaches, physios, officials etc.

Friday January 23rd, 2026 - Round-Robin Day 4 Schedule (GMT +3)   13:00   New Zealand vs Latvia 16:30   Netherlands vs Kazakhstan 20:00  Turkiye vs South Korea

Thursday January 22nd, 2026 - Round-Robin Day 3 Results (GMT +3)   13:00   Latvia  4 - 3  Netherlands 16:30   South Korea  10 - 0  New Zealand 20:00  Kazakhstan  5 - 1  Turkiye   Provisional Standing After Day 3:   1.    9 ----------------- 2.   8 3.   4 4.   3 5.   3 ----------------- 6.   0

Future athletics superpower 

Following the launch of the sample re-analysis program for the Olympic Games Rio 2016, the ITA reports that the re-analysis of the 2016 samples provided by the following athletes have returned adverse analytical findings (AAF): Esraa Elsayed Rashed Elsayed Ahmed, Egyptian weightlifter, provided a sample on 6 August 2016 which, after re-analysis, returned an AAF for methandienone (danabol) metabolite. The athlete participated in the women -63 kg weightlifting event at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 and finished 7th. Rafael Augusto Buzacarini, Brazilian judoka, provided a sample on 9 August 2016 which, after re-analysis, returned an AAF for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone metabolite. The athlete participated in the men -100 kg judo event and finished 9th. Soslan Daurov, Belarussian wrestler, provided a sample on 12 August 2016 which, after re-analysis, returned an AAF for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone metabolite. The athlete participated in the men -59 kg greco-romain wrestling event and placed 15th. Aurimas Didzbalis, Lithuanian weightlifter, provided a sample on 13 August 2016 which, after re-analysis, returned an AAF for methandienone (danabol) metabolite. The athlete participated in the men -94 kg weightlifting event at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 and obtained the bronze medal. Ivan Efremov, Uzbek weightlifter, provided a sample on 7 August 2016 which, after re-analysis, returned an AAF for methandienone (danabol) metabolite. The athlete participated in the men’s +105 kg weightlifting event at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 and obtained the 5th. Ivet Lalova-Collio, Bulgarian track and field athlete, provided a sample on 17 August 2016 which, after re-analysis, returned an AAF for ostarine glucuronide. The athlete participated in the women sprint 200 meters event and finished 8th. Ahmed Saad, Egyptian weightlifter, provided a sample on 8 August 2016 which, after re-analysis, returned an AAF for methandienone (danabol) metabolite. The athlete participated in the Men’s -62 kg weightlifting event at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 and finished 5th.  

Thursday January 22nd, 2026 - Round-Robin Day 4 Results (GMT +6)   13:00   Hong Kong  8 - 1  South Africa 16:30   Iran  1 - 7  Mexico 20:00   Luxembourg  2 - 5  Kyrgyzstan   Provisional Standing After Day 4:   1.    12 ----------------- 2.   9 3.   9 4.   6 5.   0 6.   0

Germany also fell hard in this discipline, the same thing happened to Russia - in 2022 they were much weaker than before. Romania – similar levels for years. France – strong growth until 2024, and now a decline again. Georgia – growth, but a large number of naturalized people from the Balkans play there. Generally, I see Georgia has been naturalizing a lot in various sports lately: water polo, figure skating, etc. Could that local regime there be spending much more money to further promote the country through sports?