Olympic Memories Last A Lifetime For Yorktown Husband, Wife

Every movement of a young gymnast’s feet on the balance beam competing in the world’s grandest stage, every punch in the boxing ring and cheer of the crowd, will be as vivid and as it was some 40 years ago for two Yorktown residents.

The former Olympians are going to London this summer to watch the Olympic Games, which officially begin today, July 27. 

"I've got amazing memories," said Rumen Peshev, a former boxer who competed in the 1976 Olympic Games held in Montreal, Canada. "One of the biggest impression the Games had left me with was the kindness of everyone. It was like a small family of athletes from all over the world getting together. But on the arena, it was a tough fight for the Gold."

His wife Krasimira Stoycheva is also on Olympian – a gymnast who participated in the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany. 

The two young athletes at the time had been training for years to participate in the world's biggest sports arena where only the world's best athletes have the honor of attending and representing their country. When they were children, Peshev and Stoycheva were chosen to join a team because of their potential, talent and athletic abilities.

Just a year after he began his career as a boxer, Peshev attracted the attention when he became the Bulgarian boxing youth champion at age 13. Stoycheva began taking gymnastics when she was six years old after her coach attended her school's physical education class and selected the most talented girls. 

Soon, they were both taken hundreds of miles away from their hometowns, friends and family, and accepted into a school where the brightest and most talented athletes studied and trained for numerous hours every day. Despite all the challenges, they continued to excel in their fields. 

To be able to participate in the Olympics – or even to be considered – they had to prove themselves at various national and international competitions over and over again. There was an enormous amount of pressure to win medals and be at your 'best game' for a number of years in a row. Medals weren't easily given at competitions, but the young gymnast and boxer often stepped on the champion podium. 

During their whole lives as athletes, they were on a strict diet, exercise regiment and made sacrifices most others their age didn't have to. There was no going to the movies or taking long trips and vacations. They had to continue training every day.

Growing up in Bulgaria, being able to travel around the world and represent your country was not typical. Neither were the few weeks Stoycheva spent in Munich. She was the youngest member of her gymnastics team to be selected to go to the Olympic Games – when she was just 14 years old (today's age requirement is 16 and older). 

Although watching the Olympics every two years – the summer and winter Games – is a tradition in the Peshev family, both Olympians are excited to be in the middle of the action once more.

They know exactly what the athletes going to compete at the London Olympics will be feeling and experiencing.

"I'm feeling their happiness," Peshev said. "They're on the road toward their Olympic dream to win a medal. Everyone goes on to compete with the hopes of becoming an Olympic champion. Walking into the Olympic stadium during the opening ceremony and being welcomed with people from all over the world is incredible."

The Olympic Village was a town of its own – there were stores, diners, clubs, libraries – all free and available to the athletes only. There, Stoycheva lived in a room with one other gymnast from her Bulgarian team and they both could go to practices at what she remembers to be an enormous gym in Munich. 

It was a dream come true for the young gymnast who had been training twice a day throughout her gymnastics career – often in facilities that provided no air-conditioning in the summer – then three times a day as the Olympics approached. 

The Games in Montreal were no exception. Peshev remembers the Olympic Village had two buildings with endless entertainment – from concerts and movies to traditional Canadian performances.

The Olympic athletes were all friendly to each other and exchanged pins of one another's countries, t-shirts, flags, keychains and more as souvenirs.

The two Olympians have a number of souvenirs they've kept to this date and have created a wall in their Bulgarian home – with all of their medals from national and international competitions, memorabilia, pictures and souvenirs they had gathered from traveling all around the world.

It reminds them of their accomplishments as young, determined, driven, persistent and successful athletes. 

Peshev participated in his first World Championship, held in Havana, Cuba in 1974. He placed seventh and lost to Howard Davis, one of the best American boxers at the time and the country's first world champion and Olympic champion. That same year, Peshev placed second in the European Championship in Kiev, Ukraine and continued his preparation for the Olympic Games.

As an athlete, his talent and exceptional athletic skills got him accepted into an accredited national sports school in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. The former Olympian holds a Bachelor's Degree from the National Sports Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria and has been a teacher for more than 30 years. 

Stoycheva was a member of the Bulgarian National Team for six years and participated in a number of international, Balkan competitions, a World Championship held in her hometown of Varna, Bulgaria and the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany.

She holds titles as a Bulgarian champion and has received gold, silver and bronze medals in the different gymnastic apparatus – vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor. She holds a Bachelor's Degree from the National Sports Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria and has been a teacher for more than 30 years. 

Editor's Note: Full disclosure – Rumen Peshev and Krasimira Stoycheva are Patch editor Plamena Pesheva's parents.

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