MARIA Grozdeva, 32, mother of three children became the most successful Bulgarian athlete in the history of the Olympic Games after she won a gold medal in the 25-m pistol shooting and a bronze in the 10- m competition at the 28th Olympic Games in Athens. Her Olympic title was not the only one that the Bulgarian team was awarded. Milen Dobrev, weightlifter became Bulgaria’s second competitor to win gold in Athens. “I am extremely happy and proud to be Bulgarian,” said Grozdeva after returning from Athens. Before she left for Athens, Grozdeva said that she would try to win the gold at 25-m pistol, which was her favourite sport discipline. And so she did, on August 18. “I do not feel like a hero, but I feel extremely happy.” She said that Athens 2004 was the first final after which she had cried. Grozdeva, the first woman flag carrier for Bulgaria at Olympic Games, skilfully defended her title from the Olympics in Sydney 2000 when she set a record and won a gold medal. Grozdeva’s husband and coach Valeri Grigorov said, after their return from Athens on August 20: “Sydney was much harder. Here everything was a matter of concentration”. Probably Grozdeva is the only woman in the world who could shoot with a pistol still while at primary school. However, sport shooting is not the only pursuit that Grozdeva had even at an early age. In her childhood years, she did classical ballet and trained for rhythmic gymnastics. Swimming, figure skating and playing the piano for almost nine years were among her other activities. “My father used to be very strict with me,” she recalls now with her gold medal on chest. Her brother was the first one to start practicing shooting, so she might have been influenced by him, she smiles. Although she could shoot with a rifle when she was in the fourth grade, she didn’t start training seriously until she started at the sports school in Sofia. “My success in Athens did not come as a surprise. I experienced all the joy and excitement of it in advance,” Grozdeva said. “We are so happy. It is all like a dream to me. I only pray it lasts,” she told journalists at the airport. “The feeling of being first is really marvellous,” Grozdeva said adding that when she was leaving for the Olympics she didn’t think of being the first Bulgarian athlete to win five medals. “The final was hard because it is a question of fear and concentration,” she said. “In shooting there is no time to think and take risks. You just shoot,” she said minutes after the competition was over. Born on June 23, 1972 in Sofia, Grozdeva took up shooting at the age of 11. And only three years later she covered the ‘master of sports’ standard. She also set a Bulgarian record of 391 in the women’s 10m pistol 10 years ago. With her bronze medal from Athens 2004, Grozdeva became the first Bulgarian athlete with medals from four Olympic Games - Barcelona 1992 (bronze), Atlanta 1996 (bronze), Sydney 2000 (gold) and Athens 2004 (bronze). She won the gold medal at 25 -m pistol shooting in Sidney 2000 and three bronze medals - two at 10 m air pistol in the games in Barcelona 1992 and one at 25 m pistol in Atlanta 1996. She has been European champion seven times and set an Olympic and European record in pistol shooting. Grozdeva had won 12 gold medals at World Cup competitions. Her latest medal she devoted to her family and three daughters first, and to all who have supported her. She admits that she is superstitious before competitions like the Olympics. She said that reading coffee grains in her cup is a must-do ritual before Olympic Games and this practice dates back to the Barcelona Games in 1992 when she won her first medal. “I will keep the ritual for the Olympic Games in Beijing,” Grozdeva said. She is determined to win another gold medal there. Dobrev said: “I was physically well prepared and I had no concerns”. Speaking after his triumph in Athens, he said he had been confident he would prevail over the two Russian weightlifters, who came second and third. “The feeling is incredible - this is my first Olympic champion’s title, and I am extremely happy,” he said. Born in Plovdiv on September 22, 1980, Dobrev made his international debut in 1996, winning a European bronze at 70 kg in Bourgas. Then he came fifth at 85 kg in a world junior competition in Sofia, and in 2000 he became vice champion in the same age group and weight class at the World Championships in Prague.