Michael Hristov: The Boy Who Outran His Fate!

Do you know what it is like to know about a person, you’ve never met…a person who doesn’t know about your existence, but somehow when you hear his name or some new about his accomplishments in life and in sport, your heart fills with pride? Pride that even though the world is full of pessimists, there are still ambitious, hard working and worthy people. People who are among us, to use their self example in order to motivate us, to give us hope when we feel down and give us strength when we feel weak!

Michael Hristov is one of these people! He is a unique example about the limitless possibilities of the human nature, about strong will and brave heart! When he is only 15 years old, a bad accident happens, and he got both of his arms amputated! Thus, this bad incident takes him to a place, where Michael gets the opportunity to show what he is made of! Michalel enters the world of track and field, and shows us that in the future we will be hearing about him and his records more often! Check out what Misho shared with us and “steal” at least a small part of the optimism and the desire to live, that this boy has!

Ines Subashka: How old were you, when the incident happened? Actually could you tell us exactly what happened?
Michael Hristov: When I was 15 years old, I was messing around with an electric transformator and a volt arc, “hit” me. The chance for this to happen is really small, and the chance to survive after 20 000volts hit you is one in a million. Seems like I am lucky!

IS: How long did it take you to recover? What were the hardships you had to face? How did you accept the fact that the doctors amputated both of your arms? Did you have moments when you thought your future was gone or exactly the opposite?
MH: I spent close to three months in the hospital! Simply the stay in the hospital was terrible and challenging! It isn’t the best place on Earth, but thanks to the good doctors in Pirogov and my rehabilitator Ivan, to whom I am sincerely thankful for all the time he took to help me, things didn’t seem so bad. You either accept the facts and keep looking forward to new opportunities or you stay living in the past and lose everything! I decided to fight and face the bad things with a smile!

IS: How did you start with track and field? How did people around you accept that decision?
MH: Stela Eneva- a couple times European and World champion in Paraolympics, helped me start with track! My friends and family were there beside me! Sport is something that makes me and my loved once happy!

IS: What are your accomplishments in track so far?
MH: For just one year in the professional sport, I won a silver medal in the long jump, at the Youth  European championship , third at the World Championship in the same discipline. I won bronze medal at the European Championship for Men. Right now I am in Dubai at a World Championship. I finished with two fourth places in the 100 meter and 200meter dash and an European record in the long jump! Recently I was in Kuwait, and there I won a silver medal in the 100meter dash!

IS: Could you tell us more about your prosthesis?
MH: The prosthesis I run with is really light and really strong. It weighs about 700grams. I use it just for workouts. The one that I use more often is called mio-electric prosthesis and it mimics the basic movements of the human arm.

IS: What does one of your days look like?
MH: If I am preparing for a big competition, I dedicate almost my whole time to workouts and rest. Everything else is on second place. Sports take you a lot, but they give you twice as much! Otherwise in my free time, I find time for my friends!

IS: Do you follow a nutrition plan? Do you take some supplements?
MH: Yes I have a nutrition plan. I eat mainly quality food, rich in proteins and good carbs. Supplements are a part of every good athlete’s life! I take BCAA, proteins, vitamins, l-carnitine, creatine, the list is pretty long but for a good workout I need all of them!

IS: What does track mean to you?
MH: It is a big part of my life! If I do not workout for a couple days it feels like my muscle start itching. Track gives me a lot of good opportunities to travel to different countries- this year I was abroud for about two months! It gives me a strive to keep going and follow my dreams, it teaches me to be disciplined!

IS: Do you regret your decisions in times of hardships?
MH: NO, NEVER! There are always winners and losers! If I lose, I search for the mistakes I made and I keep going ahead!

IS: What would you like to tell people who let obstacles, stop them from chasing their dreams?
MH: I would say that they do not get anything from sitting around and feeling sorry about themselves! Even if we fall, we should stand up again. It doesn’t ,matter if we fall 100 times, before we are strong enough to make another step forward! Actually, they once asked Muhamed Ali, how many sit ups does he make and that was his answer- “ When I get the burning pain in my abs, I go ahead and complete a thousand more!”

IS: Who are people, who were beside you the whole time?
MH: My parents, Stefan Stoykov- my coach and my girlfriend!

IS: What do you believe in and what would you wish for yourself and our readers?
MH: I believe in myself. I believe that the human body has no limits. I kind of manage to prove it. I would wish for myself to participate in the Olympic games in London and why not win a medal! To everybody else, I would wish more smiles, more happiness and I would encourage them to search for the good side of life. EVERYBODY FALLS! WHAT MATTERS IS TO GET UP< DUST YOURSELF AND KEEP MOVING FORWARD!