Todor Todorov

Todor Todorov represented Bulgaria in the gymnastics tournament at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, where he was ninth with the team in the all-around and had a best individual finish of joint-47th (with Leo Sotorník of Czechoslovakia and Ernst Gebendinger of Switzerland) in the floor exercise. Shortly thereafter, he retired from active competition and began a career in coaching and sports administration, particularly with the Bulgarian Athletic Federation. He became head of that organization in 1965 and began to reorganize and formalize its many branches, leading to considerably increased success for Bulgarian track and field over the next decade.

These successes, in turn, led to increase funding and the modernization of Bulgaria’s athletics program. In 1975, Todorov was elected to served on the European Athletics Council, and was also active as an athletics judge at this time. Despite this lengthy service, he was ousted from his position as head of the Bulgarian Athletic Federation in 1982 for political reasons.