Yanko Ivanov Bratanov ( bg, Янко Иванов Братанов; born 10 June 1952) 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 ...

n former

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete. He won gold in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

at the 1976 European Indoor Championships and was an Olympic finalist in the

400 m hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ar ...

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

and

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

. After his athletic career he has worked as a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

in Qatar and Bahrain.

Biography

Athletic career

Bratanov was born in

Sliven Sliven ( bg, Сливен ) is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace. Sliven is famous for its heroic Haiduts who fought against the Ottoman Turk ...

on 10 June 1952. He took up athletics early, initially competing in the

110 m hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hurd ...

but switching to the 400 m hurdles as a youth. In 1970 he represented Bulgaria at the European Junior Championships in

Colombes Colombes () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. In 2019, Colombes was the 53rd largest city in France. Name The name Colombes comes from Latin ''columna'' (Old French ''colombe'') ...

, but was eliminated in the first round. Bratanov equalled the Bulgarian record in the 400 m hurdles (51.8) in 1971; in 1972, he won the Bulgarian championship for the first time and improved the national record to 51.24. He repeated as national champion in 1973 and 1974; at the 1974 European Championships in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

he was eliminated in the semi-finals, but set a new Bulgarian record of 50.66. In 1975 Bratanov won bronze at the

European Indoor Championships The European Indoor Championships was a men's tennis tournament played in Berlin, Germany. The event was played as part of the ATP Tour in 1990 and 1991. It was played on indoor carpet courts. Finals Singles Doubles See also * Berlin Open ...

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...

as the Bulgarian team's

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...

in the 4 × 2 laps relay. At the 1976 European Indoor Championships in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Bratanov won gold in the men's 400 metres, setting a new Bulgarian indoor record of 47.79 in the final to defeat West Germany's defending champion

Hermann Köhler Hermann Köhler (born 12 January 1950 in Niedermarsberg, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a former sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres. He represented West Germany and competed for the club TV Wattenscheid TV Wattenscheid 01 Leichtathletik is a ...

. Bratanov set his personal best in the 400 m hurdles, 49.77, in

Fürth Fürth (; East Franconian: ; yi, פיורדא, Fiurda) is a city in northern Bavaria, Germany, in the administrative division (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Middle Franconia. It is now contiguous with the larger city of Nuremberg, the centres of the t ...

on 13 June 1976; he was the first Bulgarian to break 50 seconds. He made his Olympic debut in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

later that summer, running 51.84 in the heats and 50.11 in the semi-finals; he qualified for the Olympic final, in which he placed sixth in 50.03. In total, Bratanov was a seven-time Bulgarian champion; five times outdoors in the 400 m hurdles (1972, 1973, 1974, 1978 and 1979) and twice indoors over 400 m (1974 and 1975). At the 1978 European Championships in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Bratanov was eliminated in the semi-finals, but at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

he again qualified for the Olympic final; he was the only athlete to make the 400 m hurdles final in both Montreal and Moscow. He suffered a

cramp A cramp is a sudden, involuntary, painful skeletal muscle contraction or overshortening associated with electrical activity; while generally temporary and non-damaging, they can cause significant pain and a paralysis-like immobility of the aff ...

in the Moscow final and placed a clear last in 56.35.

Coaching career

Bratanov retired as an athlete in 1983, but remained active in track and field as a coach. Initially, he coached in Bulgaria, moving to

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

in 1992; his Qatari pupils included Asian champions Samuel Francis and

Femi Ogunode Femi Seun Ogunode (born 15 May 1991 in Ondo City) is a Nigerian-born sprint athlete who competes internationally for Qatar since 2010. His personal best of 9.91 at 100 m in 2015 made him the former holder of the Asian 100m record, which was ...

. , Bratanov is coaching in

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

; he coached Bahrain's team for the 2014 World Junior Championships in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

, but was unable to attend personally after being denied a

visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bratanov, Yanko 1952 births Living people Sportspeople from Sliven Bulgarian male hurdlers Bulgarian male sprinters Bulgarian athletics coaches Olympic athletes for Bulgaria Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Bulgarian expatriates in Qatar Bulgarian Athletics Championships winners