site.btaAntoaneta Kostadinova Back from Tokyo: "First Thing in the Morning, I Checked If I Still Had the Medal"
OL 18:14:01 01-08-2021
MY1812OL.109
109 TOKYO 2020 - MEDALLIST - HOMECOMING
Antoaneta Kostadinova Back from Tokyo:
"First Thing in the Morning, I Checked
If I Still Had the Medal"
Sofia, August 1 (BTA) - Bulgaria's first medallist at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Antoaneta Kostadinova, returned to Sofia on Sunday. The silver-winning shooter expressed her optimism about the Bulgarians' performance until the end of the Games.
"First thing in the morning, I checked whether I still had the medal," Kostadinova told reporters. "That medal had a reassuring effect on me. The moment I took it, and also at the next competition, I was very calm, as if I was back in my hometown Targovishte."
She said she was honoured to rub shoulders with Bulgaria's shooting legend, two-time Olympic champion Maria Grozdeva, for whom Tokyo was the seventh and last Olympics. "I was happy to show her that I can do it, too, and that I am a worthy heiress. Maria will always be Number One. Bulgaria should be proud of her," Kostadinova said.
Kostadinova won the silver in the women's 10 m air pistol final last Sunday, thus bringing Bulgaria its first medal from Tokyo 2020. Five days later, she finished fourth in the 25 m pistol event at the Olympics.
A grand homecoming was planned for Kostadinova in Targovishte for Sunday evening. It was organized by the authorities of the northeastern town. Relatives, friends, colleagues of Kostadinova and her coach Hristo Marinov, sport figures, public personalities, journalists and the general public were invited to the ceremony. MY/VE
/МЙ/
MY1812OL.109
109 TOKYO 2020 - MEDALLIST - HOMECOMING
Antoaneta Kostadinova Back from Tokyo:
"First Thing in the Morning, I Checked
If I Still Had the Medal"
Sofia, August 1 (BTA) - Bulgaria's first medallist at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Antoaneta Kostadinova, returned to Sofia on Sunday. The silver-winning shooter expressed her optimism about the Bulgarians' performance until the end of the Games.
"First thing in the morning, I checked whether I still had the medal," Kostadinova told reporters. "That medal had a reassuring effect on me. The moment I took it, and also at the next competition, I was very calm, as if I was back in my hometown Targovishte."
She said she was honoured to rub shoulders with Bulgaria's shooting legend, two-time Olympic champion Maria Grozdeva, for whom Tokyo was the seventh and last Olympics. "I was happy to show her that I can do it, too, and that I am a worthy heiress. Maria will always be Number One. Bulgaria should be proud of her," Kostadinova said.
Kostadinova won the silver in the women's 10 m air pistol final last Sunday, thus bringing Bulgaria its first medal from Tokyo 2020. Five days later, she finished fourth in the 25 m pistol event at the Olympics.
A grand homecoming was planned for Kostadinova in Targovishte for Sunday evening. It was organized by the authorities of the northeastern town. Relatives, friends, colleagues of Kostadinova and her coach Hristo Marinov, sport figures, public personalities, journalists and the general public were invited to the ceremony. MY/VE
/МЙ/
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