His winning result of 7.22 metres was significantly shorter than the previous years when Galin Georgiev had dominated the sport, but Atanasov would later jump on par with Georgiev's results, while maintaining a several-year-long rivalry with Petar Dachev.
Jumping 7.86 metres at the World Championships, he fell a few centimetres short of a place in the final.
This translated into a less eventful 2001, where he won silver at the national indoor championship and bronze at the 2001 Balkan Games.
Following a string of second places, first at the Bulgarian indoor championships and then in meets on foreign soil such as the Cezmi Or Memorial, the 2002 Balkan Championships and the Sonatrach Meeting in Algiers, Atanasov jumped 8.31 metres on 27 July in Pyrgos.
[5] 8.31 was the joint seventh best in the world in 2003, and the second best in the Balkans, wedged in between the Greek jumpers Louis Tsatoumas (8.34) and Dimitrios Filindras (8.30).
Abroad, Atanasov also won the IAAF Grand Prix in Zagreb, but placed slightly lower at the Athletissima, Madrid Meeting and Gugl-Meeting, before bowing out once again in the Olympic Games qualifying round.
Despite jumping 8.16 metres in September 2004 and becoming Bulgarian indoor champion once again in February 2005, he did not compete in any major international competitions in 2005.
He barely managed to surpass the 8-metre mark during the season and finished lowly at the 2006 European Championships.
He came closest at the Bulgarian championships where he won the silver medal in 7.87, but trailed far behind at the 2008 Olympic Games.
[5] In 2011, Atansov left Lokomotiv Plovdiv and joined Beroe Stara Zagora due to financial reasons.
[9] In 2012 at the age of 38, Atanasov announced he was retiring from professional athletics, but that he would still compete recreationally.
Although this would normally be considered a hindrance in the long jump, Atanasaov used it to his advantage by crouching before stepping on the board for takeoff.