The "Golden Girls" of Bulgaria ( bg, Златните момичета на България) refers to the generation of female
rhythmic gymnasts who represented
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
from 1976 to 1999 when the team was coached by
Neshka Robeva
Neshka Stefanova Robeva ( bg, Нешка Стефанова Робева; born 26 May 1946) is a Bulgarian former Rhythmic Gymnast and coach.
Biography
Born in Rousse, Robeva graduated from the Bulgarian State Choreography School in "Bulgarian ...
. In this period, the Golden Girls won 14
Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships The Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships are the world championships for the sport of rhythmic gymnastics. The tournament is promoted and organized by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). It is one of the three tournaments in r ...
titles in individual and ensemble performances; 14
Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships
The Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships are the European championships for the sport of rhythmic gymnastics. They were first held in 1978. The European Championships and the European Junior Championships were united in 1993. Prior to 2006, ...
titles, and an assortment of other world and European titles.
The most prominent gymnasts of the Golden Girls are
Adriana Dunavska,
Anelia Ralenkova,
Bianka Panova
Bianka Panova ( bg, Бианка Панова, born May 27, 1970 in Sofia) is a Bulgarian individual rhythmic gymnast. One of the Golden Girls of Bulgaria that dominated rhythmic gymnastics in the 1980s. She is the 1987 World All-around champion ...
,
Diliana Georgieva,
Elizabeth Koleva,
Iliana Raeva
''Iliana'' is a genus of skippers in the family Hesperiidae. It was described in 1937 by Ernest Layton Bell, with ''Iliana romulus'' as type species. The genus has a neotropical distribution.
Distribution
Species mainly occur in Peru, Brazil ...
,
Julia Baicheva,
Lilia Ignatova, and
Maria Petrova. Among them, they won over 200 medals in 20 years. Bianka Panova became the first rhythmic gymnast to win all five individual events at a world championship. She was entered into the
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
for receiving full 10 marks in all eight routines at a world championship. Maria Petrova, along with earlier gymnast
Maria Gigova
Maria Gigova ( bg, Мария Гигова; born 24 April 1947) is a Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast. She is a three-time (1969, 1971, 1973) World All-around champion.
Biography
She was the first gymnast to become a triple world champion in rhyth ...
, were both three-time world all-around champions; Petrova is also a three-time European all-around champion.
Nowadays all golden girls have different coaches.The most popular from 2016-2022 are Neviana Vladinova, Katrin Taseva, Boryana Kaleyn, Stiliana Nikolova, Eva Brezalieva and Tatiana Volozhanina in Senior individual.
References
Further reading
The Golden Girls of Bulgaria by Neshka Robeva, Margarita Rangelova (1985), Sofia, Bulgaria: Sofia Press
Nicknamed groups of Olympic competitors
Bulgarian rhythmic gymnasts
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