On November 22, in the "Meteor" hall of the Youth Center Plovdiv, the long-awaited book "Bulgaria and Plovdiv at the Olympic Games 1896 - 2024" was presented, the author of which is Iliya Kisimov. The event was opened by the Mayor of Plovdiv Municipality Mr. Kostadin Dimitrov - the Mayor of Plovdiv, the Chairman of the Municipal Council - Plovdiv Mr. Atanas Uzunov, the Deputy Mayor "Sports and Youth Activities" Mr. Nikolay Buhalov and the Director of the Youth Center Plovdiv Ms. Dimitria Todorova.
Over 70 people, representatives of the Municipality of Plovdiv, the Municipal Council - Plovdiv, universities, libraries, community centers, sports clubs and organizations, prominent Plovdiv journalists and media attended the presentation of the long-awaited book.
The Mayor of Plovdiv Municipality presented a book with a personal message and autograph to the Olympic medalists present, namely: Stoyanka Gruycheva /won a gold medal in rowing at the 1976 Olympic Games and a bronze medal at the 1980 Olympic Games/, Nikolay Buhalov /with two gold medals in canoeing at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, ​​Spain/, Vanya Gesheva /won a full set of Olympic medals in 1988 in canoeing and a silver medal at the 1980 Olympic Games/, Ani Uzunova /won a bronze medal in volleyball at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow/, Stefka Madina /won a bronze medal in rowing at the 1988 Olympic Games. in Seoul, South Korea/, Sevdalin Marinov /won a gold medal in weightlifting at the 1988 Olympics/, Kaspar Simeonov /won a silver medal in volleyball at the 1980 Olympics/, Georgi Vassilev /won a silver medal in football at the 1968 Olympics/, Rumen Alexandrov /won a silver medal in weightlifting at the 1980 Olympics/ Blagovest Stoyanov /won a bronze medal in canoeing at the 1992 Olympics/, Magdalena Georgieva /won a bronze medal in rowing at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul/, Petar Zapryanov /won a bronze medal in shooting at the 1980 Olympics/. The event was also attended by the husband of Lalka Berberova, who won a silver medal in rowing in 1988. in Seoul, the daughter of Todor Diev, who won a bronze medal in football at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia, the daughter of Angelina Manolova, who won a silver medal in basketball at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, Russia.
Iliya Kisimov prepared a unique history of the participation of Bulgaria and Plovdiv in the Olympic Games from 1896 to 2024. The publisher of the encyclopedia is "Trakia-Press PR-Plovdiv". It covers ten sections, including a brief history and the performance of Bulgarian and Plovdiv athletes at the Summer Olympic Games; statistical data about them, business cards of medalists from the Plovdiv region and mascots of the Summer Olympics. There is also a place for the Winter, Youth and Paralympic Games and Bulgarian participation in them. The medalists from Plovdiv at world and European championships in the period from 1949 to the end of 2023 have also been published. There are many other interesting facts about the participation of athletes and specialists in the field of the Olympic Games.
Iliya Kisimov, besides being a man who spent his life researching the entire sports history of Bulgaria, is also the author of the business cards of the Plovdiv medalists, which are placed on the Alley of Olympic Glory at the Plovdiv Rowing Base.
Together with the team of the Youth Center Plovdiv, they preserve the only and unique sports archive in our city, which has collected the requisites of our medalists.
They also create an incredible website, which will continue to grow with the stories of our sports clubs and competitors: https://sportsmuseumplovdiv.bg/bg
They also create an exhibition of sports items and requisites of Plovdiv sports greats, which is exhibited in the "Dunav" Sports Hall.