Lubomir Geraskov

Lubomir Gueraskov
	Gueraskov after his major Olympic triumph in Seoul, South Korea 1988
Personal information
Born	27 December 1968 (age 56); Sofia, People's Republic of Bulgaria
Sport
Country	Bulgaria
Club	Levski Sofia
Medal record
Representing Bulgaria
Olympic Games
World Championships
European Championships
Balkan Cup

Lubomir Gueraskov (Bulgarian: Любомир Герасков, born 27 December 1968) was a Bulgarian gymnast and Olympic champion. He competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul where he won Olympic gold on pommel horse. He also won two bronze medals at the 1987 World Championships, along with assisting his team to a third place finish at the 1989 European Championships.

Early life

Lubomir Gueraskov was born on 27 December 1968 in his hometown, near the outskirts of Bulgaria's capital and largest city, Sofia. Under the communist law, he was appointed to the youth sports academy where his gymnastics talent grew popularity amongst top level coaches.

As a result, he was moved into the top Bulgarian Youth Sports School at a very young age. His high talent and great progress was, from then on, revealed to the rest of the nation. Lubomir became very well known for being one of the greatest gymnasts of his time. He had won numerous regional and national titles to his name. During his teenage years, his hometown club, Levski Sofia, recruited him to their squad, helping them win numerous championships along the way. At the same time, Lubomir was appointed to the Olympic national team where most of his talent and glory would come to be recognized worldwide.

Career

World Championships and Olympic Success

At 18, Lubomir Geraskov would earn the bronze medal on both the pommel horse and floor exercise at the 1987 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam. Two years prior he became individual champion at the 1985 Bulgarian National Gymnastics Championships. Lubomir also helped lead his team to a Balkan Championships in 1986. His peak of glory came two years later when he won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea 1988, scoring a perfect 10.00. Lubomir became the second man in Bulgarian history to win a gold medal in the sport of gymnastics along with being the youngest, at 19. To top off his gymnastic career, Lubomir was inducted into the Bulgarian Sports Hall of Fame, becoming a very popular men's gymnastics figure in Bulgarian sports history.^[1]