“I grabbed it! Felicitations for the victory to all! Today I listened to the national anthem and it brought tears to my eyes. God willing, we shall have more emotions like this for Bulgarian sports,” wrote Staniliya Stamenova in her Facebook account after wining the gold in the 200 m. single canoe women at the European Canoe Sprint Seniors Championships in Račice, Czech Republic. She clocked 49.796 seconds; her rivals were unable to drop below 51 seconds.

“I think I was in good shape. This is the first race of the year and my own first international race after the world championship in Moscow in August last year,” says Staniliya Stamenova. “The scores are excellent, all the more so that this year the championship took place earlier than usual because of the European Games in Baku. To train in our sport is a difficult thing as it is done outdoors and this year we had a long winter. Mine is a sprint event and we have to work at high speed. But speed is a difficult thing when temperatures are low. That is why the results we clocked, after we had trained only in Bulgaria at low temperatures, are good.”

Staniliya Stamenova says races are the best kind of practice and enable athletes to see which way their training should veer.

“This European championship showed me I was not accustomed to the high speed that is required. I now row at a rate of 72-74 strokes per minute but for the world championship this year we shall have to attain 78-80 strokes if I want to improve my result and grab the title.”

It may sound incredible but she only got into canoe-kayaking five years ago, relatively late in life – at the age of 23. Nonetheless she has already won 3 European titles, one World Cup Gold and one World Championship Silver. Staniliya has dedicated eleven years of her life to athletics, but then an injury forced her to give it up. The beginning in canoe-kayak was difficult for her but that is precisely what has been pushing her ahead:

“Any beginning is difficult. The first times I got into the boat it capsized. At my first training camp in Pirdop I capsized six times. For example, the kayak motorboat would pass very near, make waves so I capsized, swam to the bank, came out, then back in, over and over. But persistency will get results. Nothing has stopped me. On the contrary, difficulties in sport are what have spurred on to succeed,” she says.

Asked what the source of this fortitude is, Staniliya Stamenova says:

“I have always been like that. When I start something I want to follow it through. I have been doing sports since I was 11. Before that I was interested in fine art and I put all of my energy into drawing. But when coach Rumyana Tsenova from Levski sports club singled me out for athletics, sports instantly grabbed me. From that moment on I have always wanted to achieve something.”

To supplement her training, Staniliya has included boxing, weightlifting, athletics. “Canoe-kayaking is an all-round sport”, she says. And her versatile training makes her fitter and capable of adapting to new styles and techniques.

What can we expect of Staniliya Stamenova until the end of this year?

“The World Cup in Duisburg, Germany is in a couple of weeks. I hope to keep as fit until then, but there I shall not be out to succeed at any price. I would just like to accumulate experience that will help me at the World championship this year. That is my prime objective and, of course, winning the title.”

English version: Milena Daynova