Bulgaria’s athlete Hristo Rekov missed the chance to win a gold medal at the recent European Canoe Sprint Juniors and U23 Championships held in his native city of Plovdiv (Central South Bulgaria). Hristo stopped the clock only 0.9 seconds behind the winner. However, the twenty year-old Bulgarian boy managed to grab the silver at the 500 meters kayak race, together with his teammate Vilian Bachvarov and brought positive emotions to the local audience.

“One second is too much in our discipline. Each single scoop is very important and every second is filled with huge efforts. Thus, each minute feels like ten minutes”, Hristo Rekov told Radio Bulgaria.

The young Bulgarian athlete from Trakia rowing club in Plovdiv won his first medal from European Canoe Championships in his native city. He said it was a great honor to him to win that medal, because he managed to place second in the presence of his fellow citizens and because the price of that medal is paid with many privations, perseverance, strong will and character.

“This medal is only the beginning”, Hristo Rekov said right after the race. He can prove he was right as early as this week when he will face another great challenge-the ICF Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint Championships in Minsk. Unfortunately, he will not be able to have his revenge against the Belarussian kayak pair, because that championship will include Olympic disciplines only. However, Hristo is to depart to Minsk with the ambition to win a medal at the 1,000 meter event.

Bulgarians are individualists, a popular cliché reads. However, Hristo Rekov does not fit into that category. He shares efforts at the rowing canal, his dream to win medal at the next summer Olympic Games in Tokyo and the responsibility during the races with his teammate Vilian. Although Vilian lives in the city of Ruse (Northeastern Bulgaria) and Hristo lives in Plovdiv, they exercise often together at training camps.

“Our rowing style is very similar. Besides, we have similar characters and help one another a lot. The teamwork requires a lot of patience and understanding.”

Although Bulgaria won a series of medals at Olympic Games, Hristo admires Petar Merkov who won silver medal at summer Olympics the most. Unfortunately, the young Bulgarian athlete will not be able to take part at this year’s summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. However, he voiced hopes that the Bulgarian athletes will perform successfully in Rio and believes that Miroslav Kirchev has the chance to win a medal at the single seater kayak. Hristo will split his time until the next summer Olympic Games in Tokyo between practice in the rowing canal and the university in Plovdiv, where he studies pedagogy and physical education,. He believes that in ten years he will be a successful athlete. One can become a winner only if he manages to overleap himself, Bulgarian canoe legend Nikolay Bukhalov says. Time will show whether the young Bulgarian athlete will manage to show steadfastness in the pursuit of his dreams.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov