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It is with great sadness that the IAAF today received the news that Dr. Bojidar Spiriev has passed away.
One of the greatest enthusiasts and an unbelievable expert in athletics, Dr. Bojidar Spiriev (1932-2010) most significantly was the creator of the famous “Hungarian Scoring Tables”, the Scoring Tables (now the official IAAF Scoring Tables) that have been used worldwide for nearly three decades to comparably measure performances across disciplines in our sport.
Founder, co-owner and General Director of Elite Ltd, the company that runs All-Athletics.com, with his son Attila they created their World Rankings system. It all started in 1979. It was the official IAAF World Rankings for eight years (from 2001) and since they created the All-Athletics.com database website.
Dr. Bojidar Spiriev, of Macedonian origin, was born in Nevrokop, Bulgaria. He was Bulgarian champion in the 400m Hurdles and participated in the Universiade (World Student Games).
He fell in love and married Hungarian Long Jump champion Irén „Baby” Kun in 1961 and moved to Hungary. However it was only in 1992 that he was granted Hungarian citizenship. By then he already had two adult sons (Attila b. 1964, a former international 400m hurdler, later a manager of several top athletes and also the co-owner and Managing director of Elite Ltd) and Peter (b. 1969, a chess-player).
Dr. Spiriev, was an internationally highly respected hydro-geological engineer, has worked in several countries (e.g. Hungary, Russia, Mongolia, Yugoslavia, Libya, Lebanon, Tunis, Syria, etc. - just to name a few), but wherever he went he also followed local and international athletics deeply.
In fact, besides his wife and his family it was athletics that he really loved. He was able to watch even the smallest competitions at least ten times and gained an unrivalled knowledge in the sport. He also used to coach several international athletes.
It is useless to try to describe the charming personality of Dr. Spiriev. He was one of those very few persons who is not only respected but was loved by the vast majority of the people who knew him.
There is no way to describe the depth of his knowledge and his addiction to athletics, not to mention his overall intelligence, gratitude, style and charm.
He leaves his wife, his sons, his three grandsons (Oliver, Teodor and Artemon), and they and all his family, his friends and his admirers are devastated by the tragic and sudden loss of this majestic ‘Grand Signore’, Dr. Bojidar Spiriev.
The IAAF and the athletics world as a whole will mourn the passing of a firm friend of our sport whose passion and contribution to athletics will be sadly missed.
IAAF
With our sincerest thanks for providing this obituary and our deepest condolences on their loss to All-Athletics.com
