Yordan Yovchev

Yordan Yovchev Yovchev (; born February 24, 1973), also spelled Jordan Jovtchev, is a retired Bulgarian gymnast. He took part in six consecutive Olympic Games, more than any other Bulgarian athlete in Olympic history. He was named the 2003 Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year. He was also named the 2003 BTA Best Balkan Athlete of the Year. He is president of the Bulgarian Gymnastics Federation and also serves as a sports commentator.

Early life and gymnastics career Yovchev was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. He won silver in the men's rings at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens with a score of 9.850. In the same Olympic Games, Yovchev won bronze in the men's floor exercise with a score of 9.775. In the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, he won the bronze on both floor exercise and still rings with 9.787 and 9.762, respectively. He also won two World Championship Bronze medals in the all-around (1999, 2001).

Yovchev made his fifth Olympic team for the Beijing Olympics in 2008, and qualified again for the Rings exercise. He qualified second with a score of 16.275 under the new scoring system, but missed a handstand and finished the final in last place with a score of 15.525.

He, Krasimir Dunev, and Ivan Ivankov moved to the United States after the 1996 Summer Olympics, staying in Detroit, Michigan as they wanted to compete professionally in the United States. During his career, he turned down proposals to change his sporting allegiance and compete for the United States.

He coached and trained in Norman, Oklahoma, and Houston, Texas, before moving back to Bulgaria in 2007. He and his wife, Boriana, have a son, Yordan Jr.

In 2009, he was elected president of the Bulgarian Gymnastics Federation.

Yordan Yovchev qualified and participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which was his 6th appearance at the Olympic Games, a record at that time for a gymnast, along with Oksana Chusovitina who also made her 6th Olympic appearance in 2012 (she now holds the record alone, having competed in her 8th Olympics in 2021). He was also his country's flagbearer during the opening ceremony. Yovchev officially retired from the sport in February 2013.

Awards and honors In 2016, he was inducted in the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

Personal life He has competed in many SASUKE tournaments, reaching the final stage in the 8th competition; he did not pass the spider climb in the first 15 seconds, so the walls spread apart and he fell. He is the only competitor to not pass the spider climb in this version of the final stage, other than Shingo Yamamoto, who did not complete it due to injury, but his early failure could be attributed to the heavy rain during the entire competition. Since then, he has not passed the third stage.

Results on SASUKE 8th competition (59): Failed Spider Climb - Final Stage 12th competition (99): Failed Cliff Hanger Kai - Third Stage 14th competition (91): Failed Cliff Hanger Kai - Third Stage 15th competition (97): Failed Warped Wall - First Stage 16th competition (95): Failed Cliff Hanger Kai - Third Stage 20th competition (1993)*: Failed Warped Wall - First Stage 23rd competition (79): Failed Rope Ladder - First Stage In the 20th competition, the numbering system for the contestants ran from 1901–2000 to indicate that 2000 competitors have attempted SASUKE. Instead of being number 93, Yovchev's number was 1993.