I’m not here for this. My goal is different.

Kristian Vassilev was not satisfied with his 14th place finish in the rowing competition at the Paris Olympics.

Christian Vassilev finished 14th in the Paris dinghy

“This is not what I came here for. This was not my intention. But this is the Olympics. The level is crazy high. Much higher than all the other races. My main competitors are a lot higher than they were at the beginning of the season and last season,” said the Bulgarian. “My goal here is different. I want to be in the top 12. The Olympics are different from other competitions. Everyone cooks many, many, many dishes. The level is very high,” he added.

Vasilyev, 32, finished second in the Canal C final of the rowing event on Vère-sur-Marne today, wrapping up his campaign.

“I’m very happy with today. I finished the race with confidence. I had a good run. I didn’t have much power at the end. If I had enough power, I should have been first. The American gave me enough distance in the middle squeeze,” he explained.

Bulgaria’s participation in the Olympic rowing competition ended in A, with Desislava Angelova finishing sixth and Vasilyev 14th.

“An Olympic medal is hard to come by, it’s the pinnacle for every athlete, and it’s a big achievement for Desi to make the finals. Moreover, it’s her first time at the Olympics, so it’s an undisputed success,” the rower commented.

“Beyond that, I’ve learned a lot of lessons, not so much from Paris but from this year. But they are life experiences for me and I don’t want to comment on them,” he added.

With the Olympics over, the rowers’ season is over and Vasiliev will take a break.

“We don’t have any more games on the international calendar, so the season is coming to an end. I’m going to rest. I want to relax as much as possible, especially mentally, because in the last two seasons I’ve had a lot of tension with big goals, big expectations, and I want to get rid of it, rest more easily and start the new season, enjoying the training process, because I think I will achieve better results this way,” he explained.

Vasilyev does not rule out a third appearance at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“I didn’t get a medal here, my goal is the next Olympics in Los Angeles. As long as everything goes well. It doesn’t just depend on me, there’s still a lot of time, but why not,” the rower said.

Photo: Start Photo