Bulgaria's national teams won 103 medals at science olympiads in 2026. They are 24 gold, 42 silver and 37 bronze. Elena Marinova, deputy chair of the Association of the Olympiad Teams in Natural Sciences, gave the figures.
The medals come from international, European, regional, youth and Balkan competitions. Forty of them are from the nine major international science olympiads: five gold, 15 silver and 20 bronze, plus 4 honourable mentions.
Marinova spoke at a news conference at the BTA National Press Club. Education and science minister Prof. Georgi Valchev and BTA editor-in-chief Yulia Sokolova attended.
Marinova said Bulgaria is among the leading EU countries for results at international science olympiads and ranks first for gold medals per head of population.
Bulgaria's Olympian of 2026 is Andrey Stefanov, a 2025/2026 student at the First Private Mathematics High School in Sofia. He won gold at the International Mathematical Olympiad in Shanghai, China, and at the International Olympiad in Informatics in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
His interest in maths began in first grade, and in sixth grade he decided to take up informatics seriously too. Today Stefanov is among the most successful young Bulgarian competitors in both sciences.
A year earlier, the "Olympian of Bulgaria for 2025" award went to Veselin Markovich of the "Dr Petar Beron" Mathematics High School in Varna. He has a gold from the International Olympiad in Informatics and a silver from the International Mathematical Olympiad.
At the news conference, organisers announced the second edition of the campaign "Take part! The olympiad is for everyone". The Association of the Olympiad Teams and the Regional Education Departments (RUO) run it, and BTA is the main media partner. The aim is to get more students, teachers and school heads to take part in the municipal rounds of the olympiads.
The first edition began on 2 October 2025, also at the BTA National Press Club, together with the education ministry. "Our main aim was to show that science olympiads are not only for a small group of exceptionally talented students," Marinova told BTA.
RUO data show entries in the first, municipal round of the national science olympiads rose from 71,037 in 2024/2025 to 78,033 in 2025/2026. That is a rise of 9.85%, or nearly 7,000 more entries. They grew in 22 of 28 regions, and the biggest rise was in Varna, at almost 147%.
The education ministry's school olympiads have three rounds: municipal, regional and national. Taking part is free.
"They are a chance for every child who shows an interest in science," Marinova said. She described the olympiads as a path to the national teams and international awards, but also as a chance for every student to find new interests, develop their abilities and test themselves in science.
Student Miroslav Draganov from the Burgas Mathematics High School "Acad. Nikola Obreshkov" won a gold medal at the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics in Hanoi, Vietnam, as we reported in October.
In the 2026/2027 olympiad season, the campaign will encourage students from across the country to take part, including from smaller towns and villages. With BTA, the organisers will tell the stories of students, teachers, school heads, RUO representatives and people who support the olympiads, so that more children learn what is possible and take the first step.