Bulgarian wrestling federation president Valentin Yordanov sent back his Olympic gold medal from the 1996 Atlanta Games yesterday, protesting against the IOC recommendation to drop the sport from the Games.

“As a sign of protest I am returning my gold medal, won at the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996, to the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne,” seven-times world champion Yordanov wrote in a letter to IOC president Jacques Rogge.

The wrestling world was shocked last week when the IOC made a surprise recommendation to drop the sport from 2020.

“With this act I express my solidarity with the millions of athletes and fans of our sport who are condemning the recommendation of the IOC,” added the 53-year-old, who is also a seven-time European champion.

Bulgarian wrestlers have won 16 Olympic titles, making wrestling the most successful sport in the Balkan country.

Yordanov, the only wrestler to win 10 medals at world championships, retired in 1996, soon after winning the gold at the Atlanta Games in the freestyle 52-kg category.

Less than a week after the IOC’s recommendation, wrestling’s world governing body (FILA) president Raphael Martinetti resigned.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.