Naimova Grabs Gold

Author: -
Title: "Naimova Grabs Gold in Beijing"
Source: Standartnews
Date:17.08.2006

The youngest sprint star in the world is a Bulgarian. Tezdzhan Naimova comfortably won the gold medal at the World Junior Championship in Beijing.

At the final the 19 year-old Bulgarian finished first with a time of 11.42 sec. The American Gabby Mayo and Kerry Russel (Jamaica) ranked respectively second and third.

This is the ninth gold medal for Bulgaria won at world junior championships. Before Naimova's success Nora Ivanova was the only Bulgarian athlete to win a gold medal in the sprint - Sydney, 1996. Galin Kostadinov grabbed gold in the last world championships in Grosseto in shot putting.

The new champion was born on May 1, 1987 in the central Bulgarian town of Parvomai. She started training when she was only 10 years old. Her first coach was the late Tanio Tanev. For the last five years she has been coached by Stoiko Tsonov.

The first hints of Naimova's talent came last year when she became Champion of Bulgaria in 100 and 200 meters. This season she won the Balkan title in 60 m and the European Cup in 100 m.