Five years ago, one of the country's top athletes, Bulgaria's first high jump world record holder Yordanka Blagoeva entered the surgeryof a foremost rheumatologist, Prof. Zlatimir Kolarov. While the two were discussing treatment for her bad knee, Prof. Kolarov realized he had succumbed to the charms of the down-to-earth, cheerful and positive lady sitting opposite him. And the question came up - has a film ever been made about her sports career? Yordanka answered in the negative and politely declined the professor's suggestion to have such a film made. But the idea had been born.

Besides his work in medicine, Prof. Kolarov also writes books and is chairman of the Dimitar Dimov union of writer-medics. He is also married to documentary film director Valentina Fidanova-Kolarova. And when the Kolarovs found out she was turning 70 in 2017, they called Yordanka up with the same suggestion. This persistence broke her modesty and that marked the beginning of “Beyond the jump”. The film was made in just 15 days in the summer of 2016.

“We started the shoot in the village where she was born, Gorno Tserovene. Then we went to Montana, where Yordanka Blagoeva spent her youth and where she set her first records. We met a great many people whose fondness of her had never waned. Then we went to her home, with her children and grandchildren.”

A film about the will to win, about dedication and the unbreakable sporting spirit, about trusting in one's own abilities, an attempt to gain an insight into the formula of success. That is how director Valentina Fidanova-Kolarova and script writer Prof. Kolarov describe “Beyond the jump”. Who better to star in the lead role than Yordanka Blagoeva?

On 24 September, 1972, at an international competition in Zagreb she broke the world high jump record, clearing 194 cms. - the first ever athletics world record for Bulgaria. In 1973 she won the gold at the European Athletics Indoor Championship in Rotterdam. That same year she was singled out female athlete No.1 of Europe. This was followed by two Olympic medals - a silver in Munich in 1972 and a bronze in Montreal in 1976. Over that period she had broken five world records and taken part in four Olympic Games. But the film also takes a look at the human side of her sporting achievements.

“It was as if all the people we talked to had agreed on one thing before we even met them - to only say glowing things about her. What they say they admire about her most is that despite her many records and sporting achievements, she has never been touched by hubris but is as down-to-earth as ever. And one more thing - she has made a great many donations through the years. For example, in her home village she funded the clock in front of village hall, helped build a playground, restored the old village church and then donated many valuable icons for it. A chapel was built near Batak dam - called Ascension - on the spot where there once rose a monastery, and a water fountain next to it. Every year on Epiphany - 19 January old style - or Jordanovden, her birthday, she comes and makes donations and together with the village mayor, organizes the ritual of throwing the cross into the icy waters of Ogosta river, which shall bring health to the person who fishes it out, but also a gift from Yordanka Blagoeva. In front of the town stadium in Montana she has put up a memorial plate, honouring her first coach Petar Dimitrov. He was the man who helped her in her first major victories,” says Valentina Fidanova-Kolarova.

Today, the champion and founder of aerobics in Bulgaria is, more than anything else, a happy mother and grandmother of five. “We would like this film to provide a role model for young people,to motivate them to go out and reach for their dreams with a public spiritedness and love in their hearts,” said Prof. Kolarov after the film's premiere. Yordanka Blagoeva herself adds: “The title is so fitting - Beyond the jump! I am grateful to have had the good fortune of being successful. My children and grandchildren came to watch, and in the film it is clear to see how much they suffered when they were small because I was constantly awayinstead of being with them. But isn't it true that there are thousands of Bulgarian children now, growing up alone because their parents are not there, because they have gone abroad to make a living? Thank you all for being my friends!”

“Beyond the jump” will be screened at the Odeon cinema in Sofia at the beginning of March before taking part in a number of international festivals.

English version: Milena Daynova