Bulgarian legend Bojurina remembers 1981 historic success
Features
As we review 50 years of European Volleyball history, a truly special day to remember is September 27, 1981, when the women’s national team of Bulgaria caused a real sensation by claiming European gold after stunning – in three straight sets – reigning Olympic champions Soviet Union, thus ending a winning streak encompassing the seven previous editions of the continental championship.
Zvetana Bojurina"It truly was something historic for Bulgarian Volleyball and sport in general. I was a member of the Bulgarian national team for 12 years and we did always lose every single match we played against the Soviet Union. Sometimes, we did succeed in putting up more of a fight, but we always ended up losing."
The home crowd in Sofia erupted in joy and shared such an unprecedented success with the team coached by Vasil Simov following a 3-0 (15-6, 15-12, 15-13) victory over the group mentored by the already legendary Nikolay Karpol. “I remember that day very well,” says former Bulgarian star, Zvetana Bojurina. “When the anniversary comes, I usually post pictures and share my memories on social media. It truly was something historic for Bulgarian Volleyball and sport in general. I was a member of the Bulgarian national team for 12 years and we did always lose every single match we played against the Soviet Union. Sometimes, we did succeed in putting up more of a fight, but we always ended up losing. Therefore, maybe only a few people, including among the Bulgarian fans, had expected such a triumph from us.”
Bojurina agrees that Volleyball was a different sport those days. “Everything has changed, from the rules to the tactics, and the game has become a lot more physical. Standing at 180 cm, I was the tallest player on the team for 12 years, but nowadays they would probably not want to keep me even as a libero,” she jokes. “There was less specialisation, we did not stick with one position or role, but we would be able to execute a little bit of everything, even sometimes with some improvisation when it comes to where we would be standing on the court.”
A year before that golden night in Sofia, Bulgaria’s women had won bronze at the Moscow 1980 Olympics. “That was already a major success for us, and Volleyball at the time was extremely popular in Bulgaria, the police would have to protect us from the fans when leaving the sports hall – so passionate the people were. The men’s team had won silver in Moscow, but our European Championship success was something unprecedented and unexpected too,” Bojurina continues.
For a tournament where Bulgaria did not lose a single match, in the first round as well as in the final round robin involving the top six teams, much credit shall go to the coach. “We had a great coach in Vasil Simov and he made sure he transformed us in a group of good, close friends. Moreover, we could count on one of the top setters in the game’s history, Verka Borisova, who was very good at executing the game plan of the coach and sharing it with all other players. As for the final match with the Soviet Union, we won the first set by a landslide, did very well in the second too – but we knew we had to remain focussed. If we had lost the third set, we knew that most probably the Soviets would have won 3-2 in the end,” Bojurina recounts. “Luckily the coach changed me for our youngster Mila Kjosseva, who was only 18 at the time, and did not show any fear when closing the last few points.”
Bojurina left the national team after this golden success, even though she re-joined the group preparing for the 1982 World Championship in Peru, before she was eventually dropped from the roster shortly before the journey to South America. “This meant that after playing for CSKA SOFIA the year after winning European gold, I was able to leave Bulgaria and move to Italy, where I joined Teodora RAVENNA for the 1982-1983 season. During a journey to Siberia to play Uralochka in January of 1983, I met with my future husband, Sandro Filippini, who had travelled to Sverdlovsk as well to report for la Gazzetta dello Sport,” Bojurina continues.
What makes this golden team from 1981 even more special is that they all managed to combine their career in the sport with academic and family duties, even returning to the sport after giving birth to children. Bojurina herself graduated in law, others in physical / sports science or even in chemistry. “Most of us do not live or have not lived in Bulgaria for many years and we are spread all over Europe – from Italy to Germany, from Sweden to France, but the friendship remains. Last year most of us came together to celebrate 100 years of Bulgarian Volleyball in Sofia. Our success remains historic and unfortunately it looks unlikely that Bulgaria will be experiencing anything like that anytime soon. We worked extremely hard, we learned the importance of discipline, but that moment standing on the podium and listening to our national team in front of our fans after beating the reigning Olympic champions will forever remain in our minds and hearts,” Bojurina concludes.
