Ivan Arnaudov

Ivan Arnaudov won a bronze medal in the 80 kg category at the 2026 European Weightlifting Championships, which are being held in Tbilisi, Georgia.
➡️ This is his first participation on the international stage, as he performed extremely well and managed to climb the honorary ladder. The Bulgarian athlete achieved a combined result of 377 kg, which gave him third place in the category. Ahead of him in the standings were Georgi Durglishvili from Georgia and Donato Telesca from Italy.
🎖️ In the individual standings, Ivan Arnaudov took 10th place with a result of 130 kg. His performance at the championship demonstrates stability and shows serious potential for future successes on the international stage. Ivan Arnaudov is preparing under the guidance of his coach Valentin Panayotov.

The National Paralympic Organization (NPO) of Bulgaria has credited an International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Sport for Mobility grant as a contributing factor in its athlete Ivan Arnaudov winning a bronze medal at March’s European Open Championships in Para powerlifting.

Having struggled to find sufficient funding for Arnaudov to compete internationally, NPC Bulgaria applied to the IPC to receive a Competition Support Grant through the Sport for Mobility programme. The aim of the Competition Support Grant initiative is to support National Paralympic Committees in providing Para athletes with access to essential classification and competition opportunities, improving their chances of Paralympic Games qualification.

Competition Support Grant

Having received a Competition Support Grant, NPC Bulgaria were able to send Arnaudov to Tbilisi, Georgia, for the European Open Championships in Para powerlifting. After he was internationally classified at the event, Arnaudov then competed in the men’s up to 80kg competition. After three successful lifts of 120kg, 127kg and 130kg, Arnaudov won a bronze medal for the total amount lifted during the competition.

Ivan Arnaudov said: “I would like to say a big thank you to the IPC for allowing me to compete at the European Open Powerlifting Championships in Tbilisi this year. The bronze medal I won gives me much more confidence in my ability to compete with the greatest lifters in the world and to represent Bulgaria at a bigger stage. I am now eager to prepare and compete for medals at the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.”

Part of the IPC’s Sport for Mobility programme, product of a grant agreement with the Toyota Mobility Foundation, Competition Support Grants in one of 14 IPC initiatives that aim to further develop Para sport globally.