Nickname
Freddie (gostanford.com, 21 Apr 2013)
Occupation
Athlete
Education
Architecture - Stanford University, United States
Spoken languages
Bulgarian, English
Club
US Olympic Training Center [USOTC] [Colorado Springs, CO, USA]
Sporting relatives
His parents, Yulia Hristova and Marian Penev, both represented Bulgaria in artistic gymnastics. (gostanford.com, 21 Apr 2013)
Injuries
He tore his anterior cruciate ligament [knee] at the 2014 Pan American Senior Championships in Mississauga, ON, Canada. The injury required surgery and he returned to competition in July 2015. (democratandchronicle.com, 17 Aug 2015; democratandchronicle.com, 13 Aug 2015)
Start sporting career
He took up the sport at his parents gym, the Rochester Gymnastics Academy in East Rochester, NY, United States. (sfgate.com, 11 Apr 2013)
Reason for taking up the sport
His parents were gymnasts and introduced him to the sport. (intlgymnast.com, 14 Aug 2015)
Hero / Idol
Chinese gymnast Li Xiaopeng. (sfgate.com, 11 Apr 2013)
Philosophy / Motto
"Excuses are nails that build the house of failure." (gostanford.com, 21 Apr 2013)
Awards
In 2013 he received the Nissen-Emery Award, the award given to the best male collegiate gymnast in the United States of America. (gostanford.com, 21 Apr 2013)
Additional information
General
FROM BULGARIA TO USA
He has both US and Bulgarian citizenship. He was born in Bulgaria but moved to the United States of America at age three. He previously represented Bulgaria from 2007 until 2011, including competing at three world championships. He switched allegiance in 2011 due to the competitive team atmosphere in the US team and due to locality, as he was training and studying in the United States of America with Stanford University. "For Bulgaria it was more individualistic for me and I wanted to be a part of something maybe a little bit bigger, that required a little bit more work." (gymcastic.com, 11 Jun 2014)
EASY CHOICE
Although the depth of talent on the US gymnastics team makes for tougher competition than in Bulgaria, he says the choice to switch from representing Bulgaria to representing the United States of America was simple. "I'm an American. I never wanted the easy way. Never in school, never in gymnastics. It's not about that for me. Bulgaria doesn't have as many athletes to put a whole team together so there's more of a focus on the individual, whereas with Team USA, it's all about Team USA and I love that. You're part of something bigger than yourself, and it's a great thing to experience." (pacrimchamps.com, 11 Apr 2016)
NAMED ELEMENT
He has a floor exercise element named after him. The 'Penev' is a jump backward with half-turn to double salto forward stretched with half-turn. (examiner.com, 27 Jan 2012)
Last update : 2021-03-17
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