site.btaSabre World Cup Winner Ilieva: I Want Bulgarian Fencing to Build Traditions

Yoana Ilieva, who won first place at the Women's Sabre World Cup in Plovdiv on Sunday, said at a press conference here on Tuesday that the competition is already looking at her and Bulgarian fencing in general in a completely different way.

Ilieva, 23, said coaches of a number of teams have come to her and praised her for her smart play, which she herself described as great recognition.

"World fencing already respects us Bulgarians a lot. This applies to my coach Ivaylo Vodenov as well as the whole team. I had a case in which the French Sara Balzer lost to me in a competition, but did not want to congratulate me because she thought "who is she to beat me?!" But now the French team came to me and said "bravo, you are playing great, you deserve it". The Italian Chiara Mormile came and lifted my hand after the final. That shows how much we are respected all over Europe and in the whole world. Everybody looks at us, everybody admires us and can't believe how from such a small country there can be so many people who are in world elite - European champions in the u23 category, world medalists u20 - these are all different people," she stressed. "I think there is enormous respect from the coaches of other teams who come to me and to Ivaylo Vodenov and told us that we are achieving something amazing. To get recognition from the coaches of teams like China and France who have built athletes with medals from world championships and Olympic Games - it means a lot to me."

Ilieva stressed that the victories have been achieved thanks to many people and the unity of those involved in fencing in Bulgaria - she listed the names of coaches and athletes, psychologists, physiotherapists, as well as the presidents of the Bulgarian Fencing Federation and the Bulgarian Fencing Academy. "We are like a looming wave that will overflow any moment and everyone will hear only "fencing", "fencing", "fencing". I think we are very close to making it across all ages," the young talent added.

Despite her individual success at the World Cup, Ilieva noted that the Bulgarian team was not happy with the ninth place in the team competition. "But we still lost to the Japanese team, which is a bronze medallist from the Olympic Games in Paris and which came first in this competition."

"I want people in Bulgaria to know about fencing and I want it to become a sport in which we have traditions. I see how this is being achieved and I see how children train every day. The fact that to some extent I am an example for them motivates me a lot. The results come with time and this is just a step towards my big goal - the Olympic Games in Los Angeles both individually and as a team. The tenth place I recorded in Paris still keeps me going and pushes me to do my best because my performance there was poor and I know I can do much more," added the 2023 World Championships bronze medallist.

For Ilieva, the biggest goals this season remain the European Championships in Genoa in June and the World Championships in Tbilisi a month later. Until then, she will be competing in Greece, Egypt and the Republic of Korea.