Nikolaj Pešalov

Nikolaj Pešalov (Bulgarian: Николай Славев Пешалов, Nikolay Slavev Peshalov; born on May 30, 1970 in Vetren, Bulgaria) is an Olympic[1] 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.

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

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).