Background
He was born in the Bulgarian village of Sandrovo in the Ruse Municipality.
He was born in the Bulgarian village of Sandrovo in the Ruse Municipality.
He began wrestling at the age of 10, and was coached by Georgi Achev from 1970 to 1978. He did his military service at the sports school of the CSKA Sofia sports club from 1978 to 1980, where he worked with Yancho Patrikov. He continued to work at the CSKA sports club until 1990.
In 1990, Yordanov emigrated to the United States, training and living at multi-millionaire John Eleuthère du Pont"s Foxcatcher Farm in Pennsylvania while continuing to wrestle for Bulgaria.
He retired from wrestling after the 1996 Olympics. In 2010, convicted murderer du Pont died in prison and bequeathed 80 percent of his estate to Yordanov and his relatives.
Du Pont was worth an estimated United States$200 million in 1986. In 2013, Yordanov returned his 1996 Olympic gold medal in protest of the International Olympic Committee"s decision to eliminate wrestling from the Olympics.
In 1997 he became a member of the Athletes" Commission of FILA, and has been the President of the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation since 1998. He has been a member of the board of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee since 2000.