Miladinov returned to Bulgaria, declined to comment on the reasons to stop swimming

At Sofia Airport, the 21-year-old swimmer was greeted by a bTV team, but refused to give details of his choice. But he did not answer the questions whether he could return to the sport again, but under the flag of a foreign country. Earlier in the day, the swimming federation gave a press conference, at which President Georgi Avramarch described Miladinov’s motives to end his career as « personal ».

« We received a letter from Joseph, which was a big surprise. He had to arrive in Bulgaria today and go with Dimitar Bobev at a camp in Belmeken. At the end of April is the other part of the national team in Burgas, there is also a tournament for the mayor, which is a qualification for the big championships. He also spoke.

So he judged, it doesn’t work, it is difficult to be a competitor of such a rank. It is his decision, we asked him if there were any problems or something dissatisfied, but there was no such thing. He wants to continue education in the NSA and then had other ideas. Joseph is a male boy and has never created any problems. We thank him for everything he did for the Bulgarian swim. For him, when changing the decision, our door is always open because we need such competitors – talented, hardworking and intelligent.

He asked us to stop his rights and notify all institutions of his decision. Apparently he weighs this. He is not comfortable at 6 in the morning to wake him up for a doping sample, but this is the life of the athlete. We respect his decision, it is a pity that at the age of 22 he will end his career. It can help in the future, and our doors are always open to it, « Avramchev summarized. Both the president and national team coach Christian Minkovski still expressed hope that the swimmer could think.

He was also a flag -bearer of Bulgaria at the opening of the Tokyo Olympics next to Maria Grozdeva.

However, it was Anthony Ivanov, after the news of Miladinov’s refusal, that he came out with a post in support of his former teammate.

« You gave Bulgarian swimming more than it deserved, Joska. We had a lot of conversations on this topic and I remember the last in March 2023 quite well. It was never more enjoyable for me to compete with another in our style and I never felt earlier, even when I was losing from you. You are a huge person, I don’t want to do this. Anthony Ivanov himself continues the struggle to be blamed after the Bulgarian swimming federation imposed several consecutive penalties. Today, in the Sports Arbitration Court in Lausanne, he was hearing, which gave the case, in which Ivanov challenged the re -punishment of BOC for 2 years because he was swimming in the triathlon of the Lion Heart Club while he was suspended. However, there will be a final decision in the CAS case earlier in two months. Anthony Ivanov has already announced his intention to continue sports, but to compete for another country.

The situation with Blagoi Panayotov, Zdravko Bablakov and Svetlozar Nikolov is also unclear. Nikolov has already returned to the pool after his 4-year sanction expired. This happened during the National Championship last month, which was held at the Spartak in the Spartacus in Sofia.