Elizabeth Koleva

Elizabeth Koleva
— Gymnast —
Country represented	Bulgaria
Born	(1972-11-11) November 11, 1972 Sofia
Discipline	Rhythmic gymnastics
Club	Slavia
Retired	yes
Medal record Competitor for  Bulgaria Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships Silver 1987 Varna All-around Bronze 1987 Varna Ribbon European Championships Gold 1988 Helsinki All-around Gold 1988 Helsinki Rope Bronze 1988 Helsinki Clubs Gold 1987 Athens All-around(junior) Gold 1987 Athens Rope(junior) Gold 1987 Athens Hoop(junior) Gold 1987 Athens Ball(junior) Gold 1987 Athens Ribbon(junior)

Elizabeth Koleva (Bulgarian: Елизабет Колева) (born November 11, 1972 in Sofia) is a Bulgarian individual rhythmic gymnast.

Biography

Elizabeth Koleva was born on November 11, 1972 in the city of Sofia. Elizabeth began her sports career and gymnastics at club Slavia. She was one of the Golden Girls of Bulgaria that dominated Rhythmic Gymnastics in 1980's.

Koleva had good results as a junior, At the 1987 European Junior Championships she won the All-around title, as well as the gold medal in all four apparatus (rope, hoop, ball, ribbon) and achieved a maximum score of 40.00 points.^[1] She advanced to Senior the following year and at the 1987 World Championships Koleva tied with teammate Adriana Dunavska for the silver medal in the all-around, she also won a bronze medal at the Ribbon finals.

In 1988, Koleva tied with teammate Dunavska and Soviet gymnast Alexandra Timoshenko for the gold at the European Championships, where she was also won a gold medal in rope and bronze in clubs final.

Koleva retired early at only 16 years old. She later became a coach at her home club Slavia. She married Bulgarian national volleyball and later national coach of the men's volleyball team Martin Stoev. Koleva now lives in Italy with her husband and two children ( Marina and Eric ).

References

External links

• http://sporta.bg/?load=OtherSports::Champion&id=261 ( Golden Girls of Bulgaria )