All in Attitude!
The star of Bulgarian Karate Ivet Goranova and her trainer Angel Lenkov:
Belief is the most crucial moment for an athlete's success. This is what the Olympic karate champion Ivet Goranova and her coach Angel Lenkov say in one voice in episode 13 of the educational studio of NSK Olimp "We will meet at the top".
Faith and motivation are the main topics discussed in the TV studio of the swimming club by Bulgaria's most successful sports tandem in 2021. They have proven themselves that the limitations in the mind that the athlete sets for himself can prevent the achievement of the set goals aims. Something more, the refusal to deal with difficulties creates a losers spirit in the athlete, which will also hinder him in life.
"The medal comes and goes. The most important thing is to remain good people. We train karate to become better Karateka. If we become better karate fighters, we will become better people. If we become better people, we will make the world better." This is the leading principle that Angel Lenkov teaches his star champion.
Ivet Goranova conquered the Olympic peak in Tokyo 2020. And at the debut of Karate at the biggest sports forum on the planet. She is a European champion, has a medal from the World Championship (bronze). Bulgaria's No. 1 athlete. The Tornado hailing from Dolna Mitropolia, who will turn 22 on March 6, has won over 220 medals in her collection. And what is the explanation about their winning, see in episode 13 of educational studio of NSK Olimp "We will meet at the top".
"I played folk dances for 6-7 years. In folk dances, everything depended on the whole team, on the work of each girl. I fell in love with Karate right away, because it is an individual sport. With it, everything depends on you. You will get what you put in.
When I started winning medals, I saw that there was a positive result and I dedicated myself to it. There is a lot of discipline in Karate. It's not a sport, it's a martial art. We have certain rules that we follow strictly. They start as soon as they enter the Dojo. Upon entering, you must bow. When the sensei enters, the training stops and everyone bows again - to the teacher. Karate has taught me to be persistent, to be combative. Not to give up on my goals.”
When asked what qualities a coach should have in order to take his athlete to the top of the world, Ivet Goranova answers: "To be very patient. To have faith in his student. There were many moments when I disappointed him, and I myself did not believe that we would succeed. But he always looked with positivity and never gave up on me.
There were times when we didn't get along, but that's normal in any tandem of sorts. Especially with us – only the two of us are involved in our work and we are totally devoted to each other. We are together 99 percent of the time. We have different opinions on some topics, but in the end we make the right decision, and not the who-is-right decision. In many cases, the coach gives me priority so that I feel calm."
Coach Angel Lenkov adds: "You have to understand that it is not important to be right, that there is authoritarianism in the coach-competitor relationship, but to have mutual respect for one other. If we know what our goal is, we will always find a solution. We will find a way to each other.
"Not only for Ivet, but also for the athletes, the most difficult challenge is to believe in themselves. The problem is not in technique, in tactics, but it is rather emotional. When an athlete is confident in himself, he can achieve anything," Angel Lenkov is clear.
As soon as Ivet wins the Olympic quota for Tokyo, she takes a day off. She doesn't want to think about the games. She wants to enjoy the moment. Immediately after that day, however, she begins to feel that her mere participation in Tokyo is not enough. That she should not be satisfied with this result only - the ranking for the most prestigious sports forum.
"I immediately set myself a new goal – the gold. And that helped me move forward. 20 days before the Olympics I told my coach that I was ready for the competition. And I had no doubt in myself. Faith is the most key moment for an athlete's success," Goranova continues.
"When the athlete knows what to do in a difficult moment, there is no need for the coach to intervene. However, if the coach sees that his student is not confident, he should take the conductor’s stick and tell him to do what he thinks is right. You (the coach) are sure, you know the way, you know the means. The contestant must listen to you. When the athlete has no solution, the coach has the solution. If there is faith and synergy between coach and athlete, the athlete will take that help and succeed. That's what we did when Ivet failed at the crucial Olympic qualifying tournament in France."
"When you're doing the same thing over and over every day, apart from the stress of the expectations, we need to clear ourselves. If you let the athlete rest for 2-4 days, he will not fall out of shape, if he is trained, it will not hinder him. It could have a better effect to realize.”
The environment is extremely important for the training regime and realization of the athlete. There will always be friends or "well-wishers" to distract you - with invitations to parties and entertainment. In that case, what does the coach do?
Angel Lenkov is looking for a new environment for Ivet. A competitive environment, that is. "It is important that where she trains she feels calm and the level is high. This is what we found out in Serbia," explains Lenkov. And he adds that the coach there has been in our national team for many years. Her athlete also became an Olympic champion in Tokyo.
"I felt like giving up many times. Even before the qualifying tournament in Paris. The European Championship was coming up, I went with the attitude of becoming a champion, but I lost the third match and was left without a medal. It was the biggest hole I've ever fallen into. I didn't want to train, I didn't feel like going to the gym. Even though I had 10 days until qualifying, the coach gave me 3-4 days off. He was the person who spoke to me every day to motivate me. He was looking for ways. And he found them. He contacted my motivational coach Moses Nalocca. The two of them helped me to step on their faith and cope up," says Goranova.
Ivet's motivational coach, Moses Nalocca, works with the entire Bulgarian national team, and Angel Lenkov was so impressed and moved by the impact of his methods that he cried. At the seminar, the motivational coach told our Karatekas to believe in themselves absolutely. He advised Ivet to visualize the Olympic gold medal. To visualize the way to it, every little step. Not to question that the medal is not hers.
"The mechanism of what we did when being under stress was important. One is always stressed the night before going out to compete. And our motivational coach was telling us to cage the brain that was sabotaging it. And when you are so trained everything works out. You don't have to think before every meeting. You stop thinking and things go like clockwork," Bulgaria's No. 1 Athlete is quite sure.
Mentor Moses Nalocca himself shared his impressions of Ivet after the motivational speeches: “The difference between Ivet and the others was that, first of all, she was ready to listen. Secondly, she went through all this emotionally, she felt it with her heart. She believed in him. And there was only one step left - to realize it. To put into action what she heard. A lot of people listen, but if they don't feel it and don't act, it doesn't work, contrary to as it happened with Ivet."
"Nalocca manages to get into your brain, change your thinking. He manages to turn unbelief into faith. First he wanted to clear all my personal problems, so that there was nothing that made me feel bad inside. He didn't want me to think about anything but the goal at hand. We Bulgarians say we don't need such a person. We think that we can handle everything ourselves. If the Bulgarian athletes start working with psychologists, with motivators, they will move to a higher level", says Ivet.
"When an athlete takes the important medals, the federation helps him, the ministry helps him. The sponsors come. Things are falling into place. After Ivet won in 2018 her first major medal - she became third in the world for women in Madrid, our federation received a very good budget from the Ministry of Sports and we were provided for all camps, also trips. And now it is like that," the coach explains the financial part of the preparation.
"However, this is not the case with the majority of athletes. Most parents cannot financially support so many camps, competitions and assistance is needed. It is difficult when you finish school and wonder where to head to. You start doing something in which you have a future or you're looking for financial stability. It's like that in all sports. That's the time when clubs and federations have to support so that the professional athletes stay in the sport," Goranova adds on the topic.
All shows in the series ‘We will meet you at the top’ (see here)
