Albert Popov ( bg, Алберт Попов; born 8 August 1997) is a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

alpine skier Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

Career

Albert Popov was born in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

and made his debut in the

FIS Alpine Ski World Cup The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France ...

in 2014, aged just 17. A few months later, he participated at the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, where he failed to finish both the slalom and giant slalom events. Popov was involved in a serious car accident on 17 November 2015, while returning from training near

Sölden Sölden is a municipality in the Ötztal valley of Tyrol, Austria. Geography At c. , it is the largest municipality in the country. The population of 3,449 (as of 2003) is outnumbered by tourists, of which 15,000 can be accommodated. With tou ...

. He was one of two passengers in a vehicle driven by

Drago Grubelnik Drago Grubelnik (15 January 1976 – 17 November 2015) was Slovenian alpine skier and coach. Born in Radlje ob Dravi, Grubelnik made the podium in one event on the Alpine Skiing World Cup, a third place in slalom in Wengen, Switzerland (January 2 ...

, then head coach of the Bulgarian ski team, who was also accompanied by his assistant Mitko Hristov. All three occupants of the car were injured in the crash, with Grubelnik later dying of his wounds in a hospital in Murnau,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Popov eventually returned to the FIS circuit for the 2016–17 season and featured at the

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

World Championships, where he finished 27th overall in slalom and 30th overall in the giant slalom event. On 6 February 2018, Popov won a bronze medal in the giant slalom at the 2018 FIS Junior World Ski Championships in

Davos , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Bergün/Bravuogn, Klosters-Serneus, Langwies, S-chanf, Susch , twintowns = } Davos (, ; or ; rm, ; archaic it, Tavate) is an Alpine resort town and a municipality in the Prättigau/Davos R ...

. Twelve days later, he made his debut at the Winter Olympics in

Pyeongchang Pyeongchang (; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ; ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seou ...

2018, where he placed 28th in the

giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline. It involves skiing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant slalom and slalom make up t ...

and did not finish the slalom. His World Cup breakthrough came in the opening race of the 2018–19 season in

Levi Levi (; ) was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third of the six sons of Jacob and Leah (Jacob's third son), and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Levi (the Levites, including the Kohanim) and the great-grandfather of Aaron, Moses and M ...

, where he finished 20th, earning 11 points - Bulgaria's first in the World Cup since

Petar Popangelov Petăr Popangelov (Bulgarian: Петър Попангелов, born January 31, 1959, in the city of Samokov) is a Bulgarian alpine skier known at home by his nickname "Pepe" Popangelov. He won the 1977 European Cup in slalom World Cup in Lenggr ...

during the 1986–87 season. Popov followed that up with a 16th place finish at

Madonna di Campiglio Madonna di Campiglio (german: Sankt Maria im Pein) is a village and a ski resort in northeast Italy. It is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Pinzolo. The village lies in the Val Rendena at an elevation of above sea level, and has approximatel ...

in December, after starting with the number 72 bib. On 26 January 2019, he finished 9th in the slalom event at

Kitzbühel Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbühel district (). Kitzbühel ...

, which was the best result for a Bulgarian skier since Popangelov placed 7th at

Heavenly Valley Heavenly Mountain Resort is a ski resort located on the California–Nevada border in South Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. It opened for business on December 15, 1955 and has 97 runs and 30 lifts that are spread between Califor ...

in 1985–86. Three days later he reached another milestone, finishing 6th at

Schladming Schladming is a small former mining town in the northwest of the Austrian state of Styria that is now a popular tourist destination. It has become a large winter-sports resort and has held various skiing competitions, including most notably the ...

, his country's highest placement since Popangelov's 6th place at

Park City Park City may refer to: a city in Utah. Places * National Park City, London, England, UK; see parks and open spaces in London in the United States * Park City, Illinois * Park City, Kansas * Park City, Kentucky * Park City, Montana * Park City, ...

during the 1984–85 season. Popov scored his first World Cup points of the 2019–20 season on 15 December 2019, when he finished 12th in the slalom at

Val-d'Isère Val-d'Isère (, literally ''Valley of Isère'') is a commune of the Tarentaise Valley, in the Savoie department (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region) in southeastern France. It lies from the border with Italy. It is on the border of the Vanoise Nationa ...

. On 8 January 2020, he took 18th place in the slalom at Madonna di Campiglio, his second consecutive points finish at that event. Four days later he finished 13th in the slalom at

Adelboden , neighboring_municipalities= Diemtigen, Frutigen, Kandersteg, Lenk im Simmental, Leukerbad (VS), Sankt Stephan , twintowns= } Adelboden is a mountain village and a municipality in Switzerland, located in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administ ...

. On 28 January 2020, Popov finished 19th during the slalom event at

, equaling his season's best of four point placements.

World Cup results

Season standings

:Standings as of 18 November 2023

Top 10 finishes

World Championships results

Olympic results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Popov, Albert 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Sofia Bulgarian male alpine skiers Alpine skiers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic alpine skiers for Bulgaria