Nikolaj Pešalov

Nikolaj Pešalov

Personal information
Nationality	Bulgaria
Born	(1970-05-30) 30 May 1970 Vetren, Bulgaria
Height	1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
Sport
Country	People's Republic of Bulgaria (1989–1998) Croatia (1998–2004)
Sport	Olympic weightlifting
Medal record Men’s Weightlifting Representing Bulgaria Olympic Games 1992 Barcelona – 60 kg 1996 Atlanta – 59 kg World Championships 1990 Budapest – 60 kg 1993 Melbourne – 59 kg 1994 Istanbul – 59 kg 1989 Athens – 60 kg 1995 Guangzhou – 59 kg European Championships 1991 Władysławowo – 60 kg 1992 Szekszárd – 60 kg 1993 Sofia – 59 kg 1994 Sokolov – 59 kg 1995 Warsaw – 59 kg 1997 Rijeka – 59 kg 1989 Athens – 60 kg 1990 Ålborg – 60 kg Representing Croatia World Championships Olympic Games 2000 Sydney – 62 kg 2004 Athens – 69 kg World Championships 1998 Lahti – 62 kg European Championships 2000 Sofia – 62 kg 2001 Trencin – 62 kg 2004 Kiev – 69 kg 1999 La Coruña – 62 kg

Nikolaj Pešalov (Bulgarian: Николай Славев Пешалов, Nikolay Slavev Peshalov; born on May 30, 1970 in Vetren, Bulgaria) is an Olympic and World former champion in weightlifting. For the first part of his career he competed under the Bulgarian flag, but later moved to Croatia which he represented internationally.

During his long and successful career, Pešalov was World champion eight times in various categories and disciplines, and broke several world records. His Olympic medals are split between Bulgaria (1992 and 1996) and Croatia (2000 and 2004). In 2000 he was granted Croatian citizenship, and he now holds besides Bulgarian, a Croatian passport. He resides in both Sofia (Bulgaria) and Split (Croatia).

Further achievements

• Senior world champion (1990, 1993, 1994);
• Silver medalist in Senior World Championships (1989 and 1998);
• Bronze medalist in Senior World Championships (1995);
• Senior European champion (1991–1995, 1997, 2000, 2001);
• Silver medalist in Senior European Championships (1989, 1990, 2004);
• Set five world records during career.

Major results

Year	Venue	Weight	Snatch (kg)				Clean & Jerk (kg)				Total	Rank
			1	2	3	Rank	1	2	3	Rank
Olympic Games
1992	Barcelona, Spain	60 kg	132.5	137.5	137.5	2	162.5	162.5	167.5	2	305.0
1996	Atlanta, United States	59 kg	132.5	132.5	137.5	3	162.5	162.5	165.0	4	302.5
2000	Sydney, Australia	62 kg	145.0	150.0	150.0	1	175.0	185.0	-	1	325.0
2004	Athens, Greece	69 kg	150.0	150.0	155.0	3	182.5	187.5	192.5	1	337.5

Weightlifting career bests

• Snatch: 150.0 kg in the class to 62 kg;
• Clean and jerk: 187.5 kg 2004 Summer Olympics in the class to 69 kg;
• Total: 312.5 kg (137.5 + 175.0) 1992 European Weightlifting Championships in the class to 60 kg;
• Total: 325.0 kg 2000 Summer Olympics in the class to 62 kg (Olympic record);
• Total: 337.5 kg 2004 Summer Olympics in the class to 69 kg.

World records

	unrecognized result (equalization of World Standard)
=	equalization of world record

Discipline		Result	Date and place
clean and jerk	-59kg	170kg	May 1995., Warsaw
biathlon	-62kg	325kg	Apr 2000., Sofia
biathlon	-62kg	325kg	Sep 2000., Sydney

References

• databaseOlympics 1992+1996
• databaseOlympics 2000+2004
• Nikolay Peshalov at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
• Nikolay Pechalov at Database Weightlifting