Bulgarian climber Boyan Petrov achieved a true feat despite suffering from diabetes. For a period of 100 days he climbed 3 eight-thousanders - Kanchendzyonga (8586 m), Broad Peak (8047) and fearsome K2 (8611) without using additional oxygen and without helpers. In 2015 Petrov plans to climb two other peaks that have not been climbed by Bulgarians - Manaslu (8163) and Shishapangma (8013).

Without much fuss the Bulgarian Automobile Sports Federation marked a successful year. Ekaterina Stratieva became № 1 in a women's race in Europe, Kalin Dedikov and Georgi Pavlov placed third in the World Rally Championship in Greece and Alexander Yazov became European drift champion. Nikolai Zlatkov earned the European Cup for mountain ascents and Krum Donchev and his navigator Peter Yordanov won the 2014 European Rally Trophy of FIA.

After 45 years the national 3000-meter steeplechase record of 8:25.02 was beaten. The old record was set by Mihail Zhelev in 1969 when he won the European title. This year the record was beaten by incredible Mitko Tzenov at the European Championships in Zurich, Switzerland and the result was 8:20.87.

At a ceremony in the European Parliament Sofia was declared European Capital of Sport in 2018, and Burgas - European City of Sport in 2015, which is a worthy recognition for Bulgaria.

In November the antagonism between Bulgarian boxer Kubrat Pulev and Ukrainian Vladimir Klitschko transformed into a real boxing match. Expectations of Bulgarians for the battle for the world title did not materialize and Pulev was defeated after three knockdowns and a knockout in the fifth round. The battle will apparently continue in the courtroom. The world champion will sue the Bulgarian over doping allegations, while Kubrat considers a countersuit because of Klitschko’s words he had never fought against a "bigger slob."

Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov won the TennisTV's Hot Shot of the Year poll. Dimitrov topped the list with 76% of votes for his sensational behind-the-back trickshot during the Indian Wells in March in the match against Ernests Gulbis (Latvia).

Bulgaria's participation in the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing in 2014 ended with seven medals - three gold and four silver medals. The gold was won by Blagoy Naydenov (boxing, 81 kg), Lydia Nencheva (shooting) and Bozidar Andreev (weightlifting, 69 kg). Judoka Bettina Temelkova (52kg), wrestler Kiril Milov (85 kg), the rhythmic gymnastics ensemble and boxer Dusko Blagovestoc (56 kg) won silver medals.

2014 was even more successful for Bulgarian boxing. In Bucharest Stoyka Petrova (51 kg) became the European champion among the women and Stanimira Petrova (54 kg) won the world title in Jeju, Korea. Before winning his Olympic gold Blagoy Naidenov won the world title in Sofia. Recently the young boxer who has not received any award from the state signed a contract with Irish manager Gary Hyde and will debut on the professional ring in January 2015

Ignoring the hatred of supporters of famous clubs like Levski and CSKA, the newest phenomenon in Bulgarian football "Ludogorets" proved in 2014 that high-quality football can be played in this country. Football fans enjoyed matches against Real Madrid and Liverpool for the group stage of the Champions League, and that for the second year the club preserved its place in the Top 80 football club chart of Europe.

The Bulgarian rhythmic gymnastics team also regained its glory in 2014. Among the medals they won the AA title during the World Cup in Izmir, the gold at the tournament in Baku and the already mentioned silver medal in the Youth Olympics. These days Boryana Kalaine grabbed the all-round gold at the "New Year Cup Moste" International Tournament in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

English: Alexander Markov