Olympic champion Boryana Kalein admitted that she went through difficulties in her career, but her goal was always to achieve something big.
At the Paris 2024 Games, she won silver in the all-around. Thus, she brought the second medal for Bulgaria in history in the women's individual competition after the silver of Adriana Dunavska from Seoul 1988.
"It's hard for people to understand that I'm not a machine, I'm human too. Sometimes I feel strong emotions myself and I don't always manage to show my best. This is something that only I know how I experience. I never gave up. No matter how many times I've failed, I've gotten up and tried again," Kalein said in an exclusive conversation with Marian Stankov-Mont Deux.
"I paid a very high price in tears, in disappointments, but that's how I discovered myself and realized that I am a strong person who can handle anything he wants. I don't know if I can put a price on this thing. "My goal has always been something bigger," Kalein added.
She shared that she had a moment in her sports career when she wanted to throw down the clubs: "A year and a half ago, just before the World Cup in Sofia. Then I was in a very difficult moment emotionally. I brought myself to it because I stopped believing in my success. I fell into a big and deep hole.
"It's like I haven't been able to fully recover after Tokyo. I kept falling into this hole step by step. In 2022, I failed to participate in the world championship. The following year, I failed to start according to my expectations," she said.
"I felt like the biggest failure in the world,", she added.
"I am a very ambitious person, I am self-critical, and instead of helping me, it started to crush me,", Kalein also said.
"After Tokyo, I had a conversation with my personal trainer. She assured me that I still had something to give to rhythmic gymnastics, that I needed to give myself a little more time and be patient with myself. I wasn't definitive, but I was very close to giving up," said the Olympic vice-champion.
"I showed a new light to rhythmic gymnastics - to be in an image, and not just to perform given elements with a device. I put my heart and soul into every combination," she concluded.