Aleksandar Tomov
Bulgaria's chest-throw master, five times world champion
- Born
- April 3, 1949, Sklave, Blagoevgrad Province, Bulgaria
- Nationality
Bulgaria- Height
- 191 cm (6′3″)
- Style
- Suplex thrower
- Weight
- +100 kg
- Active
- 1970–1984
- Status
- Retired · age 77
The medals
3 Olympic silvers; 5 world titles
The story
leksandar Tomov, from the village of Sklave in Blagoevgrad Province, was one of the dominant super-heavyweights of the 1970s. He won his first world title on home soil in Sofia in 1971, added three more in 1973, 1974 and 1975 and a fifth in San Diego in 1979, along with five European titles spread between 1972 and 1984. The Olympics were his one frustration: he took silver in Munich, Montreal and Moscow, and each time the gold went to a Soviet wrestler. Bulgarian sources rank him among the world's great exponents of the throw across the chest, the suplex, which they describe as a symbol of Greco-Roman wrestling. He was named Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year in 1979, is a member of the FILA Hall of Fame and has served on the board of the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation.
Tap a technique with an arrow to learn how it works.
- World champion, +100 kg (1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1979)
- Olympic silver medallist (1972, 1976, 1980)
- European champion (1972, 1973, 1976, 1979, 1984)
- Universiade champion (1977)
- FILA Hall of Fame
- Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year (1979)
Defining matches
- 1971World title Sofia (first of five, on home soil)
- 1972Olympic silver Munich (behind Anatoly Roshchin)
- 1976Olympic silver Montreal (behind Aleksandr Kolchinsky)
- 1979World title San Diego (fifth world title)
- 1980Olympic silver Moscow (behind Aleksandr Kolchinsky)
Learn the chest throw (suplex) safely: get your hips below his, lock tight around the body, then arch and turn your head so you land on him, never on your own neck. Tomov made this throw his calling card at super-heavyweight.
1976–1994
