Bulgarian rowing pioneers honored at ceremony in Plovdiv

World Rowing, the Bulgarian Rowing Federation, and the Plovdiv organizing committee held a ceremony to honor Bulgaria's first Olympic rowing medalists. The event took place during the Nations' Dinner at the U19 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv.

The ceremony commemorated the 50th anniversary of women's rowing being included in the Olympic program at the 1976 Montreal Games. Nine Bulgarian female rowers were honored with plaques, including gold medalists Svetla Otetova and Zdravka Yordanova (sculls), gold medalists Stoyanka Gruicheva and Siika Kelbecheva-Barbalova (double sculls), and silver medalists Ginka Gyurova, Liliana Vaseva, Reni Yordanova-Plachkova, Maria Modeva, and Kapka Panayotova (coxed four).

The honors were presented by Jean-Christophe Rolland, President of World Rowing; Svilen Neykov, President of the Bulgarian Rowing Federation; and Ivan Popov, Chairman of the Organizing Committee in Plovdiv.