Jordan Jovtchev competes on the rings during the 28th European Men’s Artistic Gymnastics Championships on May 11, 2008. Photo: IC

At 39, Bulgaria's Jordan Jovtchev is close to becoming the first male gymnast to compete in six Olympic Games as he prepares for London where he hopes to bring his medal-studded career to a memorable end.

"This will be the last Olympic Games I go to, if all goes well. And whatever happens there, my participation is already a big success," Jovtchev recently told reporters between training sessions at a Sofia gymnasium.

"Yet, I don't say, 'Four medals in five Olympic Games are already super, let's do and do some sight-seeing in London'."

"Like every sportsman, I want to give a deserving performance and end my career in the best possible way and without regrets."

"The question now is whether my physical fitness is still as big as my desire to win. It won't be easy," he chuckled while warming up.

Age achievement

Jovtchev qualified for this year's London Olympic Games in January. In a sport that prizes youth, Jovtchev's staying power is every bit as impressive as his skills.

"It is terrific for me as a Bulgarian to take part in six Olympic Games," he said. "How many countries can list a similar achievement? So, why should we not be proud about this?"

Jovtchev is a four-time Olympic medalist, having won a silver on still rings, his specialty, and a bronze on floor exercise at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens after winning bronzes on both events four years earlier in Sydney. He's also won 13 medals at the world championships, including the titles on both rings and floor exercise in 2003 and 2001.

His last medal was a silver on rings at the 2009 world championships, also in London. But he believes he'll be free from the pressure of needing to win a medal when it comes to the next competition in London.

"This time I will compete in a more relaxed way, because I know that I don't need to win a medal at any price," Jovtchev said.

Jovtchev, who has been head of Bulgaria's gymnastics federation since 2009, said that successes such as his qualification for the Olympic Games were crucial for the financial survival of gymnastics as a sport in Bulgaria.

It also meant he could play down his prospects.

"Of course, I want to win the Olympic title, but I'm not sure whether it is doable," he said.

The greying gymnastics veteran has been battling serious shoulder and biceps injuries on the road to London.

This has compelled him to be very economical in training.

But once up on the still rings, it seems neither age nor injuries can stop him as he deftly performs Iron, inverted and Maltese Cross figures with immaculate perfection and easy grace.

This summer's London Games will be his sixth successive Olympic Games after his debut in Barcelona in 1992 at the age of 19.

"If I'm healthy, and I want to be, I think I can still show something more."

"The only thing that can stop me are the injuries. When you can't train at 100 percent and show your best results, then obviously it doesn't make sense to go on anymore."

Jovtchev has qualified for all six gymnastics disciplines at the London Olympic Games but average performances will not do for this rings specialist and he already says he will not even waste his efforts on the floor exercise, his second-best discipline.

"I'll only go for the rings in London and that's it," Jovtchev says after performing a series of complicated twists.

"I don't think I stand a chance of doing anything more on any of the other (exercises) and that's why it's better to concentrate on the rings only."

Positive attitude

The extremely easy-going Jovtchev jokes between questions and makes faces while doing a couple of funny jumps on the trampoline.

But he saddens instantaneously when the discussion turns to the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

A clear leader after a brilliant performance, he missed out on gold after the judges put him just 0.012 points behind Greece's local favorite Dimosthenis Tampakos.

Bulgarian sports commentators still refer to the incident as "the theft of the century."

"I was robbed. Definitely! Even the gymnast who won the gold knows it, as it was very clear, you could see it. I doubt if anyone thinks the opposite," said Jovtchev. "But things went this way, and unfortunately can't be brought back."

"For me, it's becoming more and more difficult, or shall I say almost impossible, to win an Olympic gold title," he said.

Ever since the Athens Games, Jovtchev has been the single male Bulgarian gymnast to compete in the Olympic Games.

Since 2009, he is also the only gymnastics federation president in the world to still compete and will lead the Bulgarian team to the 2012 European Championships in Montpellier, France at the end of May.

"I feel stronger when I do something for other people. I find additional motivation, additional strength then," said Jovtchev. 

"My participation also motivates the rest of the team. And if I manage a better placement in a competition this means more money for the federation, which more or less rests on my shoulders."

Reuters - Global Times

Jordan Jovtchev

Nationality:  Bulgaria

Date of Birth: February 24, 1973 (age 39)

Height: 1.60m

Discipline: Men's artistic gymnastics

Medal record

Olympic Games:

Silver: 2004 Athens rings

Bronze: 2000 Sydney floor exercise

Bronze: 2000 Sydney rings

Bronze: 2004 Athens floor exercise

World Championships:

Gold: 2001 Ghent floor exercise

Gold: 2001 Ghent rings

Gold: 2003 Anaheim floor exercise

Gold: 2003 Anaheim rings

Silver: 2002 Debrecen floor exercise

Silver: 2002 Debrecen rings

Silver: 2006 Aarhus rings

Silver: 2009 London rings 

Bronze: 2001 Ghent  all around

Bronze: 2007 Stuttgart rings

(partial list)