Who is Tereza Marinova?

Tereza Marinova is a Bulgarian triple jumper born in Pleven on 5 September 1977. She won Olympic gold at Sydney 2000 with 15.20 m, still the Bulgarian national record, plus world indoor and European indoor titles. She retired before the 2008 Olympics and now teaches at the National Sports Academy in Sofia.

Is 5 September a public holiday in Bulgaria?

No. It is a normal Saturday in 2026, so nothing changes for shops or services beyond the usual weekend pattern. The public holiday is the following day, 6 September, Unification Day, which marks the 1885 union with Eastern Rumelia.

What should I do if a Bulgarian friend is called Zahari or Elisaveta?

Wish them 'chestit imen den' (happy name day) and, if you drop by, bring a small gift such as chocolates, a bottle or flowers in an odd number. Name-day celebrants keep an open house, so you do not need an invitation to visit.

On This Day in Bulgaria: Tereza Marinova, the Girl Who Trained in Secret (5 September), Shumen.UK

📅 ON THIS DAY IN BULGARIA, Saturday 5 September

Thirteen years in Bulgaria and I still get a small jolt when the answer to "who won Bulgaria's athletics gold at Sydney 2000?" turns out to be a triple jumper from Pleven. Not a wrestler, not a weightlifter: a woman who ran at a sandpit and flew. Today is her birthday, so this one is for the sports quiz at your next name-day lunch.

What happened on this day

Tereza Marinova was born on 5 September 1977 in Pleven, into a household that was, in theory, against sport. Her father Moncho Marinov had set a Bulgarian 800 metres record in 1974 and, according to the Bulgarian entry, wanted his children nowhere near a track. So in 1983, aged six, Tereza and her brother Tsvetomir began training in secret with a coach called Vanya Kostova, telling their father she was at after-school club. When he found out, it took (the Bulgarian page says) a great many tears to talk him round. Tsvetomir went on to a national junior 400 metres record; his sister went considerably further.

European junior champion in 1995, world junior champion in 1996 with 14.62 m, a mark the English entry still lists as the world under-20 record. From autumn 1996 she trained under Hristo Markov, himself an Olympic triple jump champion, and studied at the St Cyril and St Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo. Then Sydney 2000: gold with 15.20 m, which remains the Bulgarian national record. She added the world indoor title in Lisbon (2001), a world outdoor bronze in Edmonton (2001) and the European indoor title in Vienna (2002), and was Bulgaria's Sportsperson of the Year for 2000. She retired shortly before the 2008 Olympics, commentated for BNT at the 2012 Games, and now teaches at the National Sports Academy, where she runs a children's athletics day called "Tereza Marinova and Friends".

Today's name days

Zahari (Захари, za-HA-ree) and Elisaveta (Елисавета, ye-lee-sa-VE-ta) lead today, because the Orthodox Church marks 5 September for the biblical Zechariah and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist. Elisaveta is the Bulgarian form of the name every Brit grew up seeing on stamps and coins, which makes it rather easy to remember.

Seven more variants share the day: Zarko, Svetlozar, Svetlozara, Eli, Elza, Izabela and Hari. The Bulgarian name-days guide has the full run-down, but the etiquette is quick to learn. A celebrant does not send invitations; the door is simply open, and colleagues and neighbours drift in through the afternoon. You bring something (a bottle, chocolates, a banitsa from the bakery) and if it is flowers, count them: an odd number, always. Even numbers are for funerals.

Towns celebrating today

Sopot, on the southern slopes of the Balkan range near Karlovo, holds its town day today. Its signature is literary: it is the birthplace of Ivan Vazov, the novelist Bulgarians treat roughly as we treat Dickens, and his house-museum is the reason most visitors stop.

Saedinenie, west of Plovdiv, celebrates a day whose name means "Unification". The town was called Golyamo Konare until 1934, when it took its present name in honour of the 1885 union of the Principality of Bulgaria with Eastern Rumelia, the event the whole country marks tomorrow, 6 September.

Opaka, a small town in Targovishte province in our own north-east corner, Byala and the village of Borovo in the Rhodopes round out the list. There are two Byalas, one on the Varna coast and one in Ruse province, and the calendar is not clear which one is putting the bunting up.

Why this matters for British expats

If you have ever wondered why Bulgarian sports fans light up at the words "троен скок" (TRO-en skok), this is the reason. In Britain the triple jump is a niche event that surfaces once every four years and then disappears; here it is national heritage, the way rowing is for us, with Hristo Markov and Tereza Marinova as the two names everyone over 30 can produce. Knowing that the Sydney gold came from a girl who had to lie to her father to get onto the track turns a polite nod into a proper conversation. And if you know a Zahari or an Elisaveta, today is not a day to wait for an invitation.

Sources and further reading

The life story, and the training-in-secret episode in particular, comes from the Bulgarian Wikipedia entry on Tereza Marinova, with the competition record and the world under-20 mark cross-checked against the English entry. The town profiles draw on the English Wikipedia pages for Sopot, Saedinenie, Byala and Opaka, and the name-day list is as published by Nestful.