Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Saraboyukov wins European long jump gold in Apeldoorn

Photo: BGNES/ EPA

Bozhidar Saraboyukov dramatically won the long jump title at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, reports atletikabg.com. The 20-year-old Bulgarian claimed victory with a leap of 8.13m on his final attempt - just one centimetre ahead of pre-event favourite Mattia Furlani of Italy and bronze medallist Lester Lescay of Spain.


In Apeldoorn, the Bulgarian jumper reversed a result from the Jerusalem 2023 European Athletics U20 Championships, where the Italian won gold by a single centimetre with 8.23m from Sarâboyukov, European Athletics recalls.


Before his last attempt Sarâboyukov was sixth with 7.94m and unsuccessful attempts over 8m.



"I am very happy with this success. I would have been happy just to win a medal in such a big championship. It's unexpected for me to be the champion, but apparently God was with me," said Saraboyukov.


The title makes Bozhidar Saraboyukov one of the favourites for the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, on 21-23 March.


The gold medal is Bulgaria's 30th at the European Indoor Championships and the first in men's athletics since 2000, when Petar Dachev won the high jump and Iliya Dzhivondov the 400m short track in Ghent, Belgium, BTA reminds. Bulgaria's last women's victory came in 2019, when Radoslava Mavrodieva won the shot put in Glasgow.




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Malena Zamfirova wins Virtual Snowboard Alpine World Cup

Snowboarder Malena Zamfirova, who recently won the award for best young athlete in Europe, has received yet another international recognition, BGNES reports. With the votes of alpine snowboard fans from all over the world, the..

published on 10/20/25 3:28 PM

Bulgarian sailors win the title in the IRC2 division at the Bonifacio IRC European Championship 2025

The Bulgarian crew of the yacht "Ivana & Alex" won the title in the IRC2 division at the Bonifacio IRC European Championship 2025 in Corsica, held between October 7 and 12. This is Bulgaria’s first European title and a historic achievement for..

published on 10/15/25 11:08 AM

Bulgaria loses to European champions Spain in World Cup qualifier

Bulgaria lost 0–4 to European football champion Spain in a World Cup qualifier of Group “E”. Mikel Merino scored twice for Spain. Atanas Chernev scored an own goal 11 minutes before the end of the match. In stoppage time, Mikel Oyarzabal sealed the..

published on 10/15/25 10:04 AM