When she was a little girl she dreamed of becoming a fighter jet pilot. Her name is Alexandra Zhekova and she did not become a pilot but for the past 10 years she has been part of the world snowboard elite. She started skiing at first but at the age of 8 she stepped on the board and this changed her life. She is ambitious and fast and experts say her talents include fearlessness, desire for victory, and brilliant skills.

Alexandra Zhekova started competing with the best when she was 16. After the first five seasons she was already in the top 5 in the boardercross discipline. In 2006 she won the European title. Out of 96 starts for the world title, the Bulgarian has 2 gold, 8 silver and 5 bronze medals. Her first Olympic participation was in Torino when she was 16-years-old. In Vancouver she suffered an injury but in Sochi this winter it was the lack of a bit of luck that stopped her from grabbing an Olympic medal. Meters before the final Italy's Michela Moioli collided with Zhekova and the Bulgarian remained fifth. Alexandra Zhekova, however, did not blame the Italian. The Bulgarian snowboarder says she gets upset when she is not successful and her goal is being number one. According to her, in order to accomplish this goal, she needs more time. She does not say anything about money while actually professional snowboarders have a team of few men – a coach, psychologist, wax technician, etc. The team of Alexandra Zhekova consists of her father Viktor Zhekov, one of the pioneers of snowboarding in Bulgaria.

During the past season Zhekova finished third in the overall boardecross rankings. In the last race for the season in Spain she collided with Nelly Moenne Loccoz of France but remained third. Season 2013-2014 is successful for Zhekova who is now 26-years-old and considers herself a veteran. Her piece of advice to younger snowboarders is “Be a little crazy, aim at perfectionism in everything you do.”

English version: Alexander Markov