At an official ceremony at the Grand Hotel Sofia today, the annual Ikar awards of the Bulgarian Sport Foundation were presented. The team of the year was the Bulgarian national volleyball team for girls U18, which became European champion in the summer of this year. In the final of the championship in Romania and Greece, the Bulgarian team, led by the current national women's coach Antonina Zetova, defeated Belgium 3:0 (25:15, 25:18, 28:26) and won the European title. The award was presented by the chairman of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee Stefka Kostadinova. The prize was received by two athletes from this team - Bozhidara Ivanova and Simona Ivanova.

Olympic weightlifting champion Carlos Nassar received the "Sporting Ikar" award from the Bulgarian Sport Foundation for 2024.

Here are those who deserved the awards in the individual categories:

Special awards of the Bulgarian Sport Foundation: Stiliana Nikolova
(rhythmic gymnastics), Rami Kiouan (boxing) and Lyubomir Epitropov
(swimming)

Breakthrough in world sport: Valentina Georgieva (artistic gymnastics),
Desislava Angelova (rowing)

Dignified performance: Boryana Kalein (rhythmic gymnastics), Javier
Ibanez (boxing), Bozhidar Andreev (weightlifting), Kamia Alizade
(taekwondo)

Bulgarian Olympic Committee Award for Young and Talented Athlete:
Valentina Georgieva, Radina Velichkova (athletics), Nikola Tsolov
(motorsport) and Kaloyana Nalbantova (badminton)

Impressive performance: Semen Novikov (wrestling, Greco-Roman style) and
Magomed Ramazanov (wrestling, freestyle)

Champion longevity: Antoaneta Stefanova (chess)

Team of the Year: National volleyball team for girls U18

For a display of "High Sportsmanship": Emma Neykova (fencing)

Honorary Trophy: Kubrat Pulev (professional boxing)

Special "Sporting Icarus" award for Paralympic achievement: Ruzhdi Ruzhdi
(athletics)

Sporting Icarus of the year: Carlos Nassar (weightlifting)

photos: Nikolay Varadinov