Legendary Bulgarian Gymnast Yovchev Makes Olympic Finals

The living legend of Bulgarian sport, male gymnast Yordan Yovchev, has performed in a great manner his rings combination at the 2012 London Olympics qualifier, making it to the finals.

The finals will be held on August 6 at 4 pm.

Yovchev, 39, is the first ever male gymnast to take part in six Olympic Games. He received a score of 15.308 points and ranked eighth in the qualifier, which is the last spot allowing competitors to advance. He beat Ukraine's Igor Radivilov, who is ninth, by just 0.08 points.

The Bulgarian gymnast, who is a four-times Olympic medalist, received ovations from the audience gathered at North Greenwich Arena Friday evening.

2008 Beijing Olympics champ, China's Yibing Chen won the qualification with 15.858 points, followed by Matteo Morandi from Italy with 15.766 points and Aleksandr Balandin from Russia with15.666 points.

Yovchev was born in 1973 in Plovdiv. He won silver in the men's rings at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. In the same Olympic Games, Yovchev won bronze in the men's floor exercise. In the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, he won the bronze on both floor exercise and still rings. He also won two World Championship Bronze medals in the all-around (1999, 2001).

Yovchev made his fifth Olympic team for the Beijing Olympics in 2008, and qualified again for the Rings exercise. He qualified second with a score of 16.275 under the new scoring system, but missed a handstand and finished the final in last place with a score of 15.525.

The phenomenal gymnast, who is also the President of the Bulgarian Gymnastics Federation, was chosen to bear the national flag during the Parade of the Athletes, part of the Games' opening ceremony on July 27 2012.