He started as a 200 metres sprinter, and won the 1991 World Indoor Championships and 1992 European Athletics Indoor Championships.
His personal best time was 20.20 seconds, achieved at the 1991 World Championships earned him the title "the fastest white man on the planet".
Antonov defeated Carl Lewis in the 200 metres in March 1992 at an indoor meet in San Sebastian, Spain.
[2] His personal best long jump was 8.21 metres, achieved in July 1994 in Plovdiv.
This ranks him fifth among Bulgarian long jumpers, behind Ivaylo Mladenov, Atanas Atanasov, Nikolay Atanasov and Petar Dachev.