Charles Champaud

Who is Charles Champaud?

Charles Champaud, Bulgarianized Sharl Shampov, was a Swiss gymnast. He competed at the First 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.

Champaud competed in the parallel bars, Vault, and pommel horse events. Although the rest of his placings in each competition are unknown, he occupies the prestigious fifth place on vault and earned the first two points for Bulgaria.

According to the Bulgarian Olympic Committee, Champaud, a Swiss national living in Bulgaria and working as a gymnastics teacher at a Sofia high school, competed for that country at the first modern Olympics. Bulgaria is thus often included in the figure of participating nations.

In Bulgaria, Charles Champaud also played an important role in introducing football to the country and was the person to bring the sport to the capital city of Sofia in 1895.