Bulgarian weightlifter Mincho Pashov had an impressive start to his career, winning five youth and junior championship titles in the late 1970s and early 1980s. When he was just 18-years-old Pashov was selected to compete at the 1980 Moskva Olympics, winning bronze in the lightweight class with a total lift of 325.0 kg. That same year he also won bronze at the World Championships, also in Moskva, as well as gold at the World Junior Championships in Montréal.
Pashov continued to compete during the first half of the 1980s, winning three silvers at the World Championships (1981–82, 1985) and two silvers at the European Championships (1981–82), missing out on that elusive gold at both events. From 1982 to 1984 he also set three middleweight world records in the clean & jerk. After his competitive career Pashov worked for the Ministry of Interior.
Bulgaria