ELITSA YANKOVA WON BULGARIA’S FIRST MEDAL AT THE RIO OLYMPICS

Elitsa Yankova won Bulgaria’s first medal at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. On 17th of August, the 21 year-old Bulgarian freestyle wrestler won the bronze medal in the 48 kg category after defeating the Argentinian, Patricia Alexandra Bermudez, by 7:6 points.

In her debut at the Olympics Yankova demonstrated character having achieved three wins on the way to the semifinals, where she lost to Maria Stadnik of Azerbaijan. In the competition for the bronze medal, Yankova dominated against Alexandra Bermudez and at one point led 5:0. At the end of the first part the score was 5:2. Yankova began the second part with a successful attack, increased her lead to 7:2 and held on to win 7:6.

“I wanted to show everyone that Bulgaria has good athletes," Elitsa Yankova told BNT immediately after she won the bronze medal.

"The key to success was knowing that I had nothing to lose. I knew I was capable, I trained a lot and this hard work had to pay off. The medal is for the whole team and the coaches," she said.

"Yankova showed spirit, this medal is a result of many workouts and deprivation. We are happy we achieved this success with a will to win," said the coach of the national team, Seraphim Barzakov.

screenshot by Pressphoto - BTA