2024-09-16 20:50:02
On the occasion of the first day of school, the largest company for the production of non-ferrous and precious metals in South-Eastern Europe organized an inspiring meeting of students with some of the greatest Bulgarian athletes
Hours before the first school bell rang, orphaned children from three family-type accommodation centers in Plovdiv and children of employees at HOLDING KCM 2000 learned one of the most valuable lessons – the road to victory is long and difficult, but every effort is worth it because of the emotions of dreams come true.
With an exciting celebration “Hello School!”, the largest company for the production of non-ferrous and precious metals in South-Eastern Europe delighted the children of its workers and orphans. Dedicated to the theme “Olympics”, the holiday was organized as a gift on the occasion of the new school year.
At an inspiring meeting with the boys and girls, the Olympic champions Nonka Matova, Yordan Yovchev and Nikolay Bukhalov told about the long road to victory.
Major General Nonka Matova is the only female general in the recent history of Bulgaria. She won a silver medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and set 11 world records in rifle shooting, two of which were for men. She won over 600 medals from sports competitions, and her career began at the age of 13: “After the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964, little Bulgaria realized that through sports it could take its glorious place among the countries of the world. Selection began to take place through the system of the Bulgarian school and by one chance or another there was a sports school in Plovdiv, shooting, great, noticeable – it was leading in Bulgaria. That was the beginning, I was somewhere in the seventh grade. And once they realized that they had talents in their hands, it was only natural that they also built the system of getting the medals in it. And in the very first competition I became a double republican champion. Thus began a cascade of sporting successes for me.
Sports take time and sustainability, not just talent. But first and foremost is talent. The rest is a big deal. For participation in the Olympics – every country prepares, every athlete prepares, this is a 4-year Olympic cycle. If someone says – self-denial, well, I don’t know if it is self-denial, but it is terrible work. You have to train non-stop, including day and night, 24 hours a day. I have been in the Bulgarian national team for 40 years, and Bulgaria was written on my back and in my heart.”
Yordan Yovchev is the first gymnast in the world to have participated in six Olympic Games in the history of sports. Whatever can be said about the Bulgarian legend is little – he is a symbol of sports gymnastics, with 4 Olympic medals – 1 silver and 3 bronze. “I was born in the city of Plovdiv. I graduated from Hristo Botev primary school. In the first grade, my first coach came to the school, his name is Ivan Slavchev – he discovered me for gymnastics. It used to be like that. In the various sports or disciplines, there was a person who went to schools and kindergartens. Our sport starts between 4 and 5 years of age. I started at 7. At the very beginning, I didn’t even know what the Olympics meant. You don’t imagine that you’re going to go and win medals, but rather that you’re going to stand out in the neighborhood and be something different… do interesting things, walk on your hands, etc. It is very important to note that the people who worked with us – the children – had a special approach to everyone. These people made us love the sport, love what we do. They cared about us, and we tried to do our best to live up to their trust. I turned to rings later. I also liked floor gymnastics. But I had a lower back injury and there was no way I could continue competing in floor gymnastics, even though I became world champion right there, before the rings.
The motivation is there any athlete or person, who has a set plan and dreams. We have to be aware that there will be different challenges, there will be difficult moments where you will feel shaken. But that’s part of the process. All these challenges are part of building character.”
Nikolay Bukhalov is the only Bulgarian Olympic champion who won 2 gold medals from one Olympiad. The two-time Barcelona Olympic champion won gold in both the 1000m and 500m single sculls in 1992. “Barcelona was the peak of my sports career. Nothing that after that I became world champion five more times. I was 25 years old in Barcelona. It’s a wonderful age in canoeing and it only made sense to achieve everything I had set out to do. Before that, in 1988 at the Olympics in Seoul, I was third in the thousand meters. But during my participation then I realized that I actually could. Because when a person wants and is persistent, he can really achieve a lot. Each competition is of great importance for the development of the athlete – both as a character, as a person, and as an improvement in the sport. A sport is something unique. He is not only health, he is an emotion!
Canoeing, on the other hand, is a wonderful sport that is connected to water, it is outdoors. Here, in Plovdiv, we also have the Rowing Canal, which is a unique facility. This year, the Canoe Kayak Federation celebrated its 100th anniversary and I can confidently say that this sport has a future and it is here in front of us!”.
The Olympic champions were able to inspire the children and present them with impressive facts from their sports career. But at the end of the meeting they themselves were surprised with a special gift presented by Rumen Tsonev, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of HOLDING KCM 2000 – gold produced in KCM. He addressed the golden athletes of Bulgaria with the words: “Immense respect for you! We at KCM know that you have received all kinds of medals, especially gold ones – you are one of the golden champions of our country. But I am convinced that you did not receive gold that came from the bowels of Bulgaria. The gold that we are going to give you is obtained from microparticles that started from thousands of tons of ore, processed in our factories, in KCM, to arrive at this gold bar, which is 99.99 pure. Stay alive and well, you are our pride!”
An exciting final of the meeting with the Olympic champions was set with a ranking “Top 10 most awarded Bulgarian athletes at the olympics” presented by Slavi Panayotov, better known as Slavi The Clashers. With his more than 1.48 million subscribers and his Golden Playbutton, Slavi is rightfully considered the most famous YouTuber in Bulgaria, and his participation in the celebration cemented his reputation as one of the biggest favorites of today’s children.
State Puppet Theater-Plovdiv presented the favorite children’s performance “The Rye Bread”. The familiar story came to life in the game of two wandering bakers, and their sacks, whisks, ladles, jugs and colanders became the characters of the tale.
The young talents Biserka, Deya, Valeria, Mirela and Kati from the Malka Magia group presented a rich musical program to the Art Voice Center music school. Among the wonderful performances was one of the most beloved contemporary Bulgarian songs, “Children’s Planet”, and the entire audience welcomed the little and big stars.
The holiday “Hello School!” closed the season of numerous children’s initiatives organized by HOLDING KCM 2000 for the children of the large KCM family. Summer camps, Family Holiday and Open Day are just some of the events that are traditionally present in the holiday calendar of the holding, part of the company’s socially responsible policy.
