Bulgarian athlete Alexandra Nacheva brought Bulgaria a second medal from the 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, after winning the bronze medal in the dramatic final of the women's triple jump. At the “Alexander Stadium“ in the English city, the native jumper demonstrated incredible will and character, recording the greatest success of her career among women to date.
The road to the podium in Birmingham
The Plovdiv native, who will turn 25 in a few days (on August 20), secured third place with a result of 14.40 meters, achieved in her second attempt in a headwind of 3.4 m/s. The attempt turned out to be the only successful one for Nacheva in the competition, as in her remaining jumps she took maximum risks on the board and registered fouls in an effort to improve the achievement.
The title of the Old Continent was won by the representative of Italy, Daria Derkach. The 33-year-old Italian recorded a personal record and the best result in Europe for the season with the fantastic 14.60 meters. The silver medal went to the Belgian Salia Gies, who surprised the competition and jumped 14.46 meters in her fourth attempt, displacing the Bulgarian from second place.
A dramatic day for the Bulgarian triple jump
Bulgaria had two representatives in the final twenty in the sector. However, our other great hope Gabriela Petrova did not have a good day and remained in 11th place in the final standings. The 34-year-old Petrova made two fouls at the start, and in her third attempt she jumped too cautiously far ahead of the board (a full 33 cm ahead), registering 13.75 meters, which did not allow her to enter the Top 8 for the additional three jumps.
Alexandra Nacheva's achievement in Birmingham is of historical value – This is her first major outdoor women's medal, after finishing fourth at the previous European Championships in Rome in 2024. In her previous career, she was the U20 World Champion in Tampere and the gold medalist at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018.
The champion's emotions: “This is the sweetest medal for me!“
“I don't know what to say exactly at the moment. At the same time, I knew I would win a medal and I couldn't believe it... I'm just very happy. I've been through so many hard things and injuries in the last two years that I know – I deserve it! Every medal is valuable, but this one is the hardest to win and the sweetest of all, because it weighs more for men and women," shared an excited Nacheva immediately after the competition in front of the BNT cameras.
She added to Sportal.bg that her big goal remains to make every diver's dream come true - reaching the 15-meter mark during the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.
Alex Nacheva's distinction is total 42nd medal for Bulgaria in the history of the European Athletics Outdoor Championships. It is the second for our country in Birmingham 2026, after a few days earlier Bozhidar Saraboyukov also won a bronze medal in the men's long jump.