Secretary General of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee and President of the United World Wrestling (UWW) Ethical and Legal Commission Belcho Goranov, together with Director of the National Olympic Academy Prof. Lozan Mitev presented their book “The Educational Values of Wrestling” at the National Museum of Archeology in Sofia, Bulgaria on 27 June 2018.

“You will not find any techniques, tactics or ranking in this book”, Belcho Goranov said. “It is about the human qualities and shows how this ancient sport leads you to struggle overcoming yourself and your own fears. If you manage to overcome them, you are the winner!”.

It took almost a year of researching and work to complete the project, whose idea came when Goranov and Mitev worked on a study about the Bulgarian participation in the First Modern Olympic Games Athens in 1896. “Then Prof. Lozan Mitev discovered the first interview of Panayot Belev, leader of the Bulgarian delegation at that time, and that is how it all started…”, the Secretary General of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee stated.

The book studies the history of Wrestling worldwide and its impact on those people who have got in touch with it. It tracks its development as an educational tool over the centuries, outlining an overview of the educational systems and the Olympic concept as a part of the modern athlete’s education. It was published in French, English and now also in Bulgarian and Russian.

“The educational values of wrestling”  is a synthesis of the best in Sport, Art and Pedagogy. It is about the moral, human and sport growth and education of young people as a continuous process, subject to two main factors – Will and Dream.

The book launch ceremony was also attended by Minister of Youth and Sport Krasen Kralev who stated that “the contemporary values such as integrity, morality, tolerance – which we speak so much about in our united Europe – are at the same time core values in Sport as well as in Wrestling”.

He pointed out that Wrestling is not only the most successful Bulgarian sport but also the oldest Olympic sport. “Our ancient predecessors discovered the magic and values of this sport millennia ago” Kralev said. “You probably remember how only several years ago the big wrestling family managed to preserve this magnificent sport for the Olympic Family”, Kralev concluded congratulating also the authors for their enormous effort in realising this project, as well as for the valuable contribution to the development of Bulgarian sport.

“It is very useful and interesting book”, said President of the UWW European Council Tzeno Tzenov at the book presentation.

Among the guests of the event featured the double Olympic champions in Wrestling Boyan Radev and Petar Kirov, Secretary General of the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation Valentin Raychev, Rector of the National Sports Academy Prof. Pencho Geshev, sports officials and media.