2024-08-03 11:43:52
Thanks to Svilen Neikov, Rumyana Neikova, my husband and my family
Finished 6th in Paris, competed in the women’s sculls grand final at the Olympic rowing event, slightly disappointed not to have placed further, but also with her eyes set on Los Angeles in 4 years. Desislava Angelova spoke to “24 Chasa” after the final.
“I was dreaming of more. I knew the top three were much better than me, but I was secretly hoping for some miracle and a medal, but it didn’t happen. I wished I wasn’t last in the grand final, but those were my options to the moment. I’m looking forward to getting better. Still, I managed to get into the big final. In the final, my rivals were just better,” said the 26-year-old Plevenchanka.
The six athletes in the Olympic final were the same six from the world championship final in Belgrade last year, when Desi became fifth in the world. “The fact that we were the same six girls in the final of the world championships last year and in the final of the Olympic Games in Paris, it shows consistency, it shows that we are training in the right way. It makes me feel happy that we are going the right way Angelova said.
At the World Championships in Belgrade, she was ahead of the Lithuanian by a large margin and finished fifth, but in Paris the representative of Lithuania fought for a bronze medal. “God’s work is when I will be able to get a medal too, I hope it will be soon, I hope it will be at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Yes, I beat her in Belgrade last year. Maybe for a moment she felt better, “Her training went better, she held better speeds. She was just better to beat me here,” she added.
Still, she is motivated and believes that the right path leads to Los Angeles. “There, the distance will be shorter – 1500 meters, not 2000, so the preparation must be different. We have not done such a distance before, we will train in a different way. I even think that at 1500 meters it is even possible let’s be better. But there is a lot of time until then. I hope that we will be healthy, that God will be with us – if we succeed, we will enter the big final and from there on, everything is possible,” said Desislava Angelova.
The success with the ranking in Final A in Paris, she has already dedicated to the whole of Bulgarian rowing. But if she has to narrow the circle and express gratitude to those who have contributed to her personal success? “Extremely many people have contributed to this success. A competitor is built with a lot of effort, with an extremely large team of people. I have had coaches by my side since I was little, to whom I am very grateful. But now, in the final part – the last 4 years, the last Olympic cycle, Mr. Svilen Neikov and Mrs. Rumiana Neikova, my husband, my family helped us the most. I thank them the most, they have the biggest contribution to our success,” answered Desislava Angelova.