15th December 2009 10:43
Renowned coach Liliyana Videva received her certificate as Bulgaria's first European Athletics Women's Leadership Award national winner during a special ceremony organised by the Bulgarian Athletics Federation in Sofia on 3 December.
'I am very excited and grateful to European Athletics for this award. To me it is a recognition of the job done by the Bulgarian women in sports, in general, and athletics in particular,' said Videva.
After a successful career as a high jumper, Videva went on to coach a number of top Bulgarian athletes to national and international glory.
One of her wards, Long Jump star Petar Dachev, became a world junior champion in 1998 and European indoor champion in 2000. Mirela Demireva, another High Jump prodigy guided by Videva became European junior champion in 2007 and grabbed the world junior title in 2008.
Her association with athletics runs over three decades, during which she has coached athletes of all age groups. She has also won the prestigious Coach of the Year award.
Her prize, which was presented by federation president and European Athletics Council Member Dobromir Karamarinov, included the signed and numbered lithograph print given to each of the other 23 women named as national winners across Europe.
Thordis Gisladottir of Iceland was selected by European Athletics to receive the overall prize for 2009 and represent the national winners at the European Athletics Awards Dinner in Budapest on 17 October.
The European Athletics Women's Leadership Awards were created this year to recognise the contribution of women to athletics and raise awareness of issues affecting women and women leaders in the sport.
A full profile of Liliyana Videva will be published on www.european-athletics.org in the coming weeks.