Nikola Stanchev, the wrestler who became Bulgaria’s 1st Olympic champion, dies at age 78

Bulgaria’s 1st Olympic champion dies at 78

SOFIA, Bulgaria — Nikola Stanchev, the wrestler who became Bulgaria’s first Olympic champion, has died, sports officials said Monday. He was 78.

Stanchev won gold in freestyle wrestling in the middleweight division at the 1956 Melbourne Games. He won a silver medal at the world championships in Istanbul the same year. Stanchev also won 11 Bulgarian titles, eight in freestyle and three in Greco-Roman style.

Wrestling is one of the most popular sports in Bulgaria, which has won 17 Olympic golds.