He came second at the European Championships in Varna in 2005 and third in Europe in Sofia in 2007. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens he came ninth. He nevertheless took part in the Olympics thanks to painkillers.
He missed out on another bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, losing to Shinichi Yumoto in his bronze medal match.
He has been engaged in wrestling since 1997 and he currently competes for Levski Sofia, where his coach is former world champion and triple European champion Simeon Shterev, who also coaches Stanka Zlateva. Velikov won the 2006 World Championships in Guangzhou and came second in 2005 in Budapest. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, he won bronze in his category (55 kilograms). Velikov clinched the Bronze medal in Beijing despite a serious injury of his left knee immediately before the tournament which put his participation in doubt.
