It
has been interesting to watch the Olympics this year. Olympic viewing in
Bulgaria is quite different then in the U.S. There are so many American athletes
that American sports channels can only focus on a fraction of them. Unless there is an American superstar present
there is little chance that a given event will get much air time.
The
Bulgarian contingent is much smaller, so more sports featuring other countries
are covered. Also, when a Bulgarian
competes it is a big deal. When a
Bulgarian wins a medal it is an even bigger deal.
Last
night Bulgaria got its first medal of 2012.
The amazing female wrestler Stanka Hristova brought home the silver in
the 72k Freestyle wrestling category. We
were all cheering her on in the gold medal match against Russia’s Natalia
Vorobieva. After the match during the press
interview Stanka was unusually hard on herself for her loss. At one point the journalist interviewing her
reminded Stanka of what an amazing accomplishment a silver medal is. I was a little puzzled as to why she was
beating herself up so much until I heard her followup interview this afternoon.
Stanka
does not just view this as a personal defeat, but as a defeat for her country
that she brought about. She saw herself in
a position to bring home gold for all of Bulgaria, and possibly the only gold for this year. She feels like she let
the whole country down by bringing home the silver.
This
also is quite different then the way most Americans athletes view the
games. If one American gets silver
instead of gold hardly anyone notices.
As of the writing of this blog, America has 39 gold medals, 25 silver,
and 26 bronze. One upgrade in any category
would hardly be noticed. However when a
country has only one medal the color matters quite a bit more.
Personally
I see Stanka Hristova as a great Olympian.
I believe most Bulgarians do as well.
She is, so far, the only Bulgarian to bring home a medal of any color
this year. Good job Stanka! You did your country proud.
