Sport is a wonderful thing. It not only keeps us healthy and fit, but can also inspire and motivate us. It can spur us on to be better than we were yesterday, fight for success and always strive to win. Above all, sport is for everyone—regardless of body type, weight, height or health condition. And if you’re still making excuses not to exercise and take care of yourself because you don’t have the time or motivation, we’d like to tell you the stories of three inspiring people. These five Bulgarian Paralympians have worked hard and shown incredible spirit to win awards for our country in numerous sporting competitions. Their paths have been different: some were born with a disability, while others had bad luck.
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Ruzhdi Ruzhdi
Ruzhdi Ruzhdi has been Bulgaria’s most successful Paralympian in recent years. He was born on April 14, 1991, in the town of Glodzhevo (Ruse Province). When he was 17, he was involved in a high-speed car crash. The car, traveling at over 180 km/h, rolled down a slope. The athlete was thrown through the windshield and then pinned beneath the weight of the car. As a result, Ruzhdi was paralyzed from the waist down. But this did not discourage him—in fact, the opposite happened. While undergoing rehabilitation, he met another Bulgarian Paralympian whose determination inspired him. That was the start of his sporting career, which has been highly successful so far. In 2016, Ruzhdi won gold at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, setting a new world record in the shot put with a throw of 12.33 meters. In 2017, the athlete, known for his strong character and fighting spirit, won the world title in London with a new world record of 12.47 meters.
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Stela Eneva
“I didn’t want to be a burden to anyone. I wanted to prove that you can manage on your own, no matter how difficult it is. If a healthy person needs 15 minutes to achieve something, I can achieve it too—even if it takes me an hour and requires a lot of effort.” These are the words of Bulgarian Paralympian Stela Eneva. She was born in Varna in 1975 with congenital malformations and had both legs amputated below the knees as an infant. Despite this, she learned to walk with prostheses. She took up athletics in 2000 and founded a sports club for people with disabilities in her hometown. She has had a rich sporting career, competing in the shot put and discus throw. Among her greatest achievements are two gold medals at the 2006 World Para Athletics Championships in Assen, the Netherlands. There, Stela Eneva won gold in both the shot put, with a throw of 9.82 meters, and the discus, with a throw of 31.94 meters. At the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, she won silver in the discus. In 2011, she finished with two silver medals at the World Championships. She threw 10.54 meters in the shot put and 39.84 meters in the discus.
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Mihail Hristov
Mihail Hristov is a two-time world champion in the long jump for athletes with disabilities. He has broken the European record eight times and achieved many other successes. He was born in 1991 in Pleven. When he was 15, a serious accident cost him both arms. Mihail and some friends decided to visit a nearby area in Pleven. Unnoticed, the children passed beneath an electrical transformer, where an electric arc had formed. It struck Mihail with a force of 20,000 volts. Medical examinations showed that the boy had no broken bones, but he could no longer move his arms. Aware of the hidden internal damage caused by such an electric shock, doctors made the only possible decision: they amputated his right arm at the wrist and his left arm at the shoulder. But Mihail did not lose hope and began intensive training in the 100-meter sprint, 200-meter sprint and long jump. At his first competition in Dubai, he won bronze in the long jump, moving the athlete at the top of the rankings into second place with his final attempt. He also fights for the rights of people with disabilities and strives to be a role model for them.
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Hristiyan Stoyanov
Hristiyan Stoyanov was born in 1998 in Gabrovo with a disability affecting his right arm. He competes in the 800-meter and 1,500-meter races. In 2013, at the European Championships for athletes with disabilities under 23, held in Brno, Czechia, Stoyanov won gold in the 800 meters and two silver medals in the 100 meters and long jump. In November 2015, along with the other medalists from the Paralympic Games, Hristiyan Stoyanov received an award from the Bulgarian Olympic Committee. At the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, he was the youngest competitor on the Bulgarian team and one of the youngest athletes at the Games. He finished seventh in the 1,500-meter race. One of his goals is to reach the top step of the podium at the Paralympic Games; another is to one day be like the famous acrobat Encho Keryazov and help talented Bulgarian children grow and follow their dreams.
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Ivanka Koleva
Ivanka Koleva was born in 1968 in Chirpan. During her pregnancy, her mother had kidney problems, for which doctors prescribed medication, assuring her it would not harm the fetus. Unfortunately, Ivanka was born with underdeveloped legs below the knees. Six years later, they were amputated and replaced with prostheses. At 16, she began her athletic career at a home for people with physical disabilities. Coaches Stefka Nikolova and Ivan Gudev trained her to throw the javelin, discus and shot put. She went on to win 13 medals at international competitions and around 100 at national ones. She made her Olympic debut in Barcelona in 1992, finishing sixth in the shot put. Two years later, she became world discus champion in Germany. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, she placed fourth in the shot put and fifth in the discus. The pinnacle of her career was winning the Olympic shot put title in Sydney in 2000, where she also set a world record with a throw of 7.85 meters.
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These are just a few examples of inspiring athletes. There are many more—a testament to the fact that sport is for everyone. And no matter what problems we think we have, somewhere out there is always someone facing greater challenges than we are. Find a reason to pursue your goals and don’t neglect sports. You may well find the motivation to change your life and live it by your own rules.