Ruzhdi Ruzhdi | Bulgaria's Paralympic Shot Put Champion | Trans World Sport

[Music] at the 2016 Rio Paralympics one of the stars on show was Bulgarian shot putter Ry [Applause] [Music] RI the 26-year-old took gold in the f-55 category with a world record throw of 12.33 M it was his nation's only medal of the games the reaction I received when I returned home was incredible there were so many people waiting for me with flags and they were all cheering and smiling I had so much support it was great when I first got into this sport I dreamt of becoming a paralympic champion and a world champion and one by one my dreams have become reality it's given me so much happiness but it has also taken a lot of hard work and dedication RI haed some Glo in the northeast of [Music] Bulgaria growing up he wasn't particularly interested in sports however when he was 17 his life was to change forever after he was seriously injured in a car crash I was driving really fast and suddenly lost control of the car I remember careering off into a field and then the car started rolling at that point I flew out of the car I don't remember too much after that apart from being thrown from the car RI hadn't been wearing a seat belt after falling out of the car the vehicle landed on top of his body this broke his spine paralyzing him from the waist down I said to myself at the time that I would keep going and remain hopeful about life of course it's not nice to end up in a chair unable to walk but I try to stay as positive as possible following the accident RI began rehabilitation in the small Bulgarian town of paval B it was during his stay at the Dian Mar hotel that he met Bulgarian par Olympian Daniela todorova she won bronze in the J in at the 2008 Beijing par Olympics and she was to have a huge influence on R's life I met RI when we were both going through Rehabilitation at the time I was training for the Paralympics and saw this guy and thought that he had the right build for the throwing events so I told my brother who was my coach and he was Keen to meet RI once they met my brother was really impressed with him I was introduced to Rin through Daniela she had told him I was interested in trying out the shop put and discus when we finally met I remember him saying to me you have long arms you're suited to these events why don't we start training so I said why not I had nothing else to do and things just went from there really R is a very modest person what persuaded me to start training him was his focus and discipline he has dreams and he is someone who wants to achieve things and progress in life he doesn't let his disability stop him I knew that this Outlook would prove useful in training because it's important for an athlete to be both ambitious and hardworking Rin has been coaching RI since 2010 due to his spinal injury RI uses a purpose-built chair for the shotput it supports his back and enables him to rotate and throw the shot freely these days RI trains intensely 5 days a week when it comes to training we do different exercises every day some days I throw the shot outdoors and on other days I lift weights shoer requires a lot of strength so we have special exercises to suit my needs RI first represented Bulgaria at the 2012 par Olympics in London where he finished 15th 2 years later he became European champion and in 2015 he was crowned world champion at last year's European championships the 26-year-old won Gold in both the shotput and discus his mother has looked on with pride at her son's achievements his goal right now is to keep on improving and getting even better results RI doesn't want to disappoint his fans and those around him who have supported him why not achieve more that's what he always says to me SII is always on hand to assist RI they live together in pavl bana where R's coach is based some 260 km from their [Music] Hometown since his accident 9 years ago this paralympian has certainly come a very long way one of my dreams was to buy a car and drive again but I couldn't afford one I really love cars and motorbikes and now I have my license I have a car I'm mobile it feels great if I decide to go somewhere I can get into the car and just go that's if I don't have training of course so that's what I like to do in my spare time the 2017 para Athletics World Championships take place in London next month and roui will be a strong favorite to retain his shotput title look at some as long as I'm healthy and in good shape I will keep on competing it's my aim to win even more medals what I would like to do is to achieve more glory for Bulgaria at events all around the world ri's success has proved an inspiration to many in his [Music] homeland after his Triumph in R many people started calling both Ry and I people who wanted to start training people with the same condition as they were saying that he had given them hope and the strength to keep fighting and to follow their dreams so I think that he really is a great example to others never give up whatever your situation carry on any way you can it's all about holding your head up high and doing your [Music] best