Vladimir Zografski
Zografski at the Holmenkollen World Cup in March 2012
Country Bulgaria
Born (1993-07-14) July 14, 1993
Samokov, Bulgaria
Height1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Ski clubSC Samokov
Personal best214 m (Planica)
World Cup career
Seasons2008–present
Individual wins0
Team wins0
Indiv. podiums0
Team podiums0
Medal record
Men's ski jumping
Winter Universiade
Gold medal – first place2015 OsrblieIndividual NH
Nordic Junior World Ski Championships
Gold medal – first place2011 OtepääIndividual NH
European Youth Olympic Festival
Silver medal – second place2009 SzczyrkIndividual NH
Updated on January 2019.

Vladimir Zografski, born 14 July 1993 in Samokov, Bulgaria, is a Bulgarian ski jumper. He took 14th place at the normal hill individual event at the 2018 Winter Olympics, which was the best result for a Bulgarian ski jumper in Olympic history, beating Vladimir Breitchev's 19th place at the 1984 Winter Olympics.[1] Zografski is the son of former Olympic ski jumper Emil Zografski.

Zografski's instructors are Joachim Winterlich, the trainer of the successful German ski jumper Jens Weißflog, and his father Emil Zografski.[2] Vladimir has a younger brother, Martin Zografski, who is also a ski jumper and part of the Bulgarian development team.

Career

Early years and World Cup debut (2005-2010)

Zografski's started jumping at an early age in the plastic-covered hills at Chernia kos near his hometown of Samokov. His debut in the Ski jumping Continental Cup took place in 2005 when Zografski was 12 years old. In 2007 he made his debut in the Junior World Championships in Tarvisio, Italy, finishing last. His best placement in the 2008 Ski Jumping Fis-Cup was fourth place in Oberwiesenthal, while he managed 23rd in Villach during the 2008 Continental Cup.[3]

Zografski made his World Cup debut in December 2008, finishing 43rd in Pragelato.[3] He then received the silver medal at the 2009 European Olympic Youth Festival in Silesia,[4] before finishing 43rd in the Normal Hill competition during the 2009 World Championships in Liberec. Zografski recorded his best-ever WC placement during a 2009 Summer Grand-Prix competition in Klingenthal, finishing 36th. He ended up 9th at Bischofshofen 2010 for the Ski jumping Continental Cup, his best result in the competition.

During the winter of 2010, Zografski participated in the Junior World Championships in Hinterzarten, Germany, finishing 7th with jumps of 104 and 99 meters. He finished 4th in a summer CoC competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and made it to the second round of the Summer Grand Prix (SGP) a week later, eventually finishing in 17th and recording his first points at the highest level of ski jumping competition. In August 2010, Zografski reached a new career high by finishing 5th at the SGP in Courchevel, and later won silver twice at the Continental Cup in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

First World Cup points and international breakthrough (2011-2013)

The 2010/11 season did not start well in Kuusamo and Kuopio, but in Engelberg, Zografski got his first World Cup points ever thanks to 28th- and 23rd-place finishes. He continued with 16th and 19th place in Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen during the 2011 Four Hills Tournament but was disqualified in Innsbruck for fielding skis that were deemed too long. The event later started a major conflict in ski jumping, with Zografski's father and coach Emil Zografski arguing that Eastern European athletes and lesser-known jumpers were being treated worse by the FIS. Zografski failed to reach the final 4HT competition in Bischofshofen and finished 37th overall with 450.6 points. In 2011 he also won the Junior World Championships in Otepää, Estonia, ahead of Kaarel Nurmsalu.

In 2011–12 Zografski had his major international breakthrough. After finishing 12th at the Summer Grand Prix and picking up a few top-5 placements, he started the World Cup season in Kuusamo. Although not able to pick up any wins or podiums, Zografski established himself as one of the top athletes in the World Cup. His best performance was 8th place at Lillehammer, though he frequently finished in the top 20. By this time, Zografski was also becoming more known in his home country Bulgaria and started receiving features in TV, radio and print media. He also won the Winter Sports Performance of the Year award in Bulgaria due to his World Championship win in Otepää. The latter part of the season found Zografski in poorer form, as he failed to qualify for several World Cup events. He finished the season with 20th place in Holmenkollen, Oslo, with a total of 61 points and an overall rank of 45th.

In April 2012, Zografski was sidelined for a while due to an arm injury but returned for the first Grand Prix competition in Poland. As in the previous year, he was very successful in the Summer Grand Prix, finishing 13th overall, with a 4th-place finish in Hakuba being the highlight. During the 2012–13 World Cup season, Zografski picked up points in several competitions, ending the season in 33rd place overall with a personal best points tally of 183.

Olympic Games and new career highs (2014-present)

At the 2018 Winter Olympics, Zografski took 14th place at the normal hill individual event and 35th at the large hill individual event. The former was the best-ever finish for a Bulgarian ski jumper at the Olympics, beating the previous record held by Vladimir Breitchev, who finished 19th on the K-70 hill at the 1984 games.[1]

In November 2018, Zografski finished 6th in Ruka, bettering his record for the best result by a Bulgarian jumper in a World Cup race.[5]

Record

World Cup

Individual starts (166)

winner (1); second (2); third (3); did not compete (–); failed to qualify (q); did not start (DNS); disqualified (DQ);   - points finish
Season 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Points
2008/09 Kuusamo Trondheim Trondheim Pragelato Pragelato Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Tauplitz Tauplitz Zakopane Zakopane Whistler Whistler Sapporo Willingen Klingenthal Oberstdorf Lahti Kuopio Lillehammer Vikersund Planica Planica 0
q q 43 q q q 55
2009/10 Kuusamo Lillehammer Lillehammer Engelberg Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Bad Mitterndorf Bad Mitterndorf Sapporo Sapporo Zakopane Zakopane Oberstdorf Klingenthal Willingen Lahti Kuopio Lillehammer Oslo 0
q q 49 q q q DNS q q 46
2010/11 Kuusamo Kuopio Lillehammer Lillehammer Engelberg Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Harrachov Harrachov Sapporo Sapporo Zakopane Zakopane Zakopane Willingen Klingenthal Oberstdorf Vikersund Vikersund Lahti Planica Planica 38
DQ 48 28 47 23 16 19 DQ 35 31 49
2011/12 Kuusamo Lillehammer Lillehammer Harrachov Harrachov Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Bad Mitterndorf Bad Mitterndorf Zakopane Zakopane Sapporo Sapporo Predazzo Predazzo Willingen Oberstdorf Lahti Trondheim Oslo Planica Planica 61
DQ 8 45 50 DQ 29 43 22 41 q q 26 49 37 39 29 50 q 20
2012/13 Lillehammer Lillehammer Kuusamo Krasnaja Polana Krasnaja Polana Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Wisła Zakopane Sapporo Sapporo Vikersund Vikersund Harrachov Harrachov Klingenthal Oberstdorf Lahti Kuopio Trondheim Oslo Planica Planica 183
40 19 29 15 29 10 41 42 17 16 22 29 19 42 11 27 12 q 23 q 47 16
2013/14 Klingenthal Kuusamo Lillehammer Lillehammer Titisee-Neustadt Titisee-Neustadt Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Tauplitz Tauplitz Wisła Zakopane Sapporo Sapporo Willingen Willingen Falun Lahti Lahti Kuopio Trondheim Oslo Planica Planica 0
q q 50 q DNS 37 q q 45 q 50 q q q q
2014/15 Klingenthal Kuusamo Kuusamo Lillehammer Lillehammer Nizhny Tagil Nizhny Tagil Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Tauplitz Wisła Zakopane Sapporo Sapporo Willingen Willingen Titisee-Neustadt Titisee-Neustadt Vikersund Vikersund Lahti Kuopio Trondheim Oslo Oslo Planica Planica 11
27 32 q 51 q 45 48 q 32 41 41 45 49 44 35 DQ 24 51 45 43 31 39
2015/16 Klingenthal Lillehammer Lillehammer Nizhny Tagil Nizhny Tagil Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Willingen Zakopane Sapporo Sapporo Oslo Trondheim Vikersund Vikersund Lahti Lahti Kuopio Almaty Almaty Wisła Titisee-Neustadt Planica Planica Planica 6
DQ 25 q 44 q 46 42 47 DQ q 48 q q
2016/17 Kuusamo Kuusamo Klingenthal Lillehammer Lillehammer Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Wisła Wisła Zakopane Willingen Oberstdorf Oberstdorf Sapporo Sapporo Pyeongchang Pyeongchang Oslo Trondheim Vikersund Planica Planica 0
q q q q 50 45 q q 49 q q DNS q 47 q
2017/18 Wisła Kuusamo Nizhny Tagil Nizhny Tagil Titisee-Neustadt Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Tauplitz Zakopane Willingen Willingen Lahti Oslo Lillehammer Trondheim Vikersund Planica Planica 15
q 39 36 q 43 37 q 42 q q 26 34 31 32 38 21 32 q
2018/19 Wisła Kuusamo Kuusamo Nizhny Tagil Nizhny Tagil Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Val di Fiemme Val di Fiemme Zakopane Sapporo Sapporo Oberstdorf Oberstdorf Oberstdorf Lahti Willingen Willingen Oslo Lillehammer Trondheim Vikersund Planica Planica 134
47 6 48 15 15 19 26 23 25 27 28 28 27 31 39 18 34 q q q q 27
2019/20 Wisła Kuusamo Nizhny Tagil Nizhny Tagil Klingenthal Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Val di Fiemme Val di Fiemme Titisee-Neustadt Titisee-Neustadt Zakopane Sapporo Sapporo Willingen Willingen Tauplitz Tauplitz Râșnov Râșnov Lahti Lahti Oslo Lillehammer Trondheim Vikersund 48
32 44 30 q 44 44 27 48 33 42 36 22 25 16 32 27 22 36 38 39 q 31 46 q
2020/21 Wisła Ruka Ruka Nizhny Tagil Nizhny Tagil Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Titisee-Neustadt Titisee-Neustadt Zakopane Lahti Willingen Willingen Klingenthal Klingenthal Szczyrk Szczyrk Râșnov Planica Planica Planica 19
46 37 29 31 46 44 30 40 25 44 34 31 44 44 21 46
2021/22 Nizhny Tagil Nizhny Tagil Ruka Ruka Wisła Klingenthal Klingenthal Engelberg Engelberg Oberstdorf Garmisch-Partenkirchen Innsbruck Bischofshofen Bischofshofen Zakopane Sapporo Sapporo Sapporo Willingen Willingen Lahti Lillehammer Oslo Oslo Oberstdorf Oberstdorf Planica Planica 28
38 25 45 40 46 43 35 49 33 36 34 12 44

World Ski Championships

Event Normal hill Large hill Team
Czech Republic 2009 Liberec 43rd q N/A
Norway 2011 Oslo 34th 37th N/A
Italy 2013 Val di Fiemme 40th 31st N/A
Sweden 2015 Falun 30th 47th N/A
Finland 2017 Lahti 42nd DSQ N/A
Austria 2019 Seefeld in Tirol 37th DSQ N/A
Germany 2021 Oberstdorf 43rd 37th N/A
Slovenia 2023 Planica 19th 32nd N/A

Olympic Games

Event Normal hill Large hill Team
Russia 2014 Sochi q 47th N/A
South Korea 2018 Pyeongchang 14th 35th N/A
China 2022 Beijing 22nd 38th N/A

References

  1. 1 2 "Владимир Зографски пренаписа историята на българските ски скокове с 14-o място в Пьонгчанг". www.dnevnik.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2018-02-10.
  2. Fisskijumping.com – TEAM – Bulgaria
  3. 1 2 Vladimir Zografski at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation
  4. Bulgarian Team 2008–09
  5. "Владимир Зографски записа рекордно класиране в Световната купа по ски скокове". www.dnevnik.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2018-11-25.
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