Nikolaj Pešalov Athlete

Nikolaj Pešalov (Bulgarian: Николай Славев Пешалов, Nikolay Slavev Peshalov; born on May 30, 1970 in Pazardzhik, Bulgaria) is an Olympic and World former champion in weightlifting. For the first part of his career he competed under the Bulgarian flag, but later moved to Croatia which he represented internationally. During his long and successful career, Pešalov was World champion eight times in various categories and disciplines, and broke several world records. His Olympic medals are split between Bulgaria and Croatia. In 2000 he was granted Croatian citizenship, and he now holds a Croatian passport. He resides in both Sofia (Bulgaria) and Split (Croatia).