site.btaFencer Yoana Ilieva after Winning Gold: I Felt Plovdiv Would Be My Place

Bulgaria’s best fencing athlete Yoana Ilieva did not hide her great joy after achieving a historic success and claiming the first place at the World Cup Sabre in Plovdiv. She spoke to BTA right after the final against Italian Chiara Mormile. 

"I can't make sense of it yet. I am very happy. Honestly, I was so focused on the game that I still can't believe that I won a World Cup tournament. I hope the best is yet to come," said Ilieva.

Until now Ilieva had two third places in World Cup events. 

"You could see that there was a big crowd that supported me all the time and was by my side. The last two times I came third, I knew I could do more and I felt Plovdiv would be my place," she said. 

"I was very calm and the moment I got into the top four I knew that now the most important match was coming to best the previous competitions. I was very positive and enjoying playing on home soil. I wasn't thinking about first place, I was just focused on beating this opponent. From now on my main goal this year is the World Championships in Georgia. My big goal is the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. But tomorrow there is also a team competition, so there is still some drive in me. I'm not done," Yoana Ilieva said.