The Merit of Stefan Chaprashikov for Carrying the Olympic Flame in 1936

Abstract

The purpose of the present research is aimed at presenting new information related to the activities of Stefan Chaprashikov and his role in conducting the first Olympic torch relay for the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936. Several areas for gathering information are covered: research of foreign literature, review of all publications of Bulgarian researchers in the field of the Olympic movement in Bulgaria, which present information on the subject. In terms of methodology, all information found in scientific and popular sources is systematized and processed on the basis of the biographical method, content analysis, comparative and critical analysis. This publication presents newly discovered information, in three articles from periodicals and in two official BOK documents, which present information that the idea of holding the first torch relay was Stefan Chaprashikov’s. These findings will shed light on the history of the Olympic movement in Bulgaria and will form a new perspective in discussions on the topic discussed by other contemporary researchers of the Olympic movement.