Svetla Stefanova Dimitrova ( bg, Светла Стефанова Димитрова) (born 27 January 1970 in Botevgrad) is a former

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 Macedon ...

n athlete who started out competing in

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

, and later specialized as a sprint hurdler. She represented her country four times at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

, from 1988 to 2000. Her best Olympic placing was fifth in the heptathlon at the

1992 Barcelona Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

.Svetla Stefanova Dimitrova
Sports-reference. Retrieved on 2012-01-26. She won the inaugural heptathlon competition at the 1986 World Junior Championships in Athletics and returned two years later to defend it at the

1988 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 1988 World Junior Championships in Athletics was the 1988 edition of the World Junior Championships in Athletics, held in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada from July 27 to July 31, 1988."Junior host out to bury bad image". ''The Globe and Mail'', July ...

. She broke the world junior record for the heptathlon at the 1989 European Cup with a score of 6534 points, but the mark was never ratified as she failed a doping test afterwards.Pishtikova Svetla

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. Retrieved on 2012-01-26. She was suspended for two years and returned in 1992. She won the 1993 edition of the

Hypo-Meeting The Hypo-Meeting is an annual athletics (sport), athletics competition that takes place in the Mösle stadium in Götzis in Vorarlberg (Austria) held in the spring (late May, early June). In its history, a total of three world records have been se ...

. She was the silver medallist in the hurdles at the

1994 IAAF World Cup The 7th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held on September 9–11, 1994, at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, Engl ...

and won that event at the 1994 IAAF Grand Prix Final with a career best time of 12.53 seconds. In 1997 she competed in the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

held in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

in the 100 metres hurdles where she finished second behind Sweden's

Ludmila Engquist Ludmila Viktorovna Engquist (née Leonova (russian: Людмила Викторовна Нарожиленко-Леонова). formerly Narozhilenko; born 21 April 1964) is a Russian-Swedish former athlete, who competed mainly in the 100 metres ...

. She won two straight hurdles titles at the

1994 European Athletics Championships The 16th European Athletics Championships were held from 7 August to 14 August 1994 in the Olympic Stadium of Helsinki, Finland. Men's results Complete results were published. Track 1986 , 1990 , 1994 , 1998 , 2002 , Field 1986 , 1990 , 199 ...

and

1998 European Athletics Championships The 17th European Athletics Championships were held from 18 August to 23 August 1998 in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary. Men's results Track 1990 , 1994 , 1998 , 2002 , 2006 , Field 1990 , 1994 , 1998 , 2002 , 2006 , Women's resul ...

. At the

1999 World Championships in Athletics The 7th World Championships in Athletics, a World Athletic Championships event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and Augu ...

she came fifth in the hurdles final and improved to fourth at the

2001 World Championships in Athletics The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 August and 12 August and was the first time the event ...

. She tried for a third straight European title at the

2002 European Athletics Championships The 18th European Athletics Championships were held from 6 August to 11 August 2002 in the Olympic Stadium of Munich, Germany. Men's results Track 1994 , 1998 , 2002 , 2006 , 2010 , 1 Dwain Chambers originally won the 100 m in 9.96 and was p ...

but hit a hurdle in the final and finished last. She retired from competition in 2004. Dimitrova was a contestant in the second season of Survivor BG: Expedition Robinson. After her athletics career she married and is now ''Svetla Pishtikova''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimitrova, Svetla 1970 births Living people Bulgarian heptathletes Bulgarian female hurdlers Bulgarian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Bulgaria World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Sportspeople from Burgas World Athletics U20 Championships winners

See also

References