Elizabeth Koleva ( bg, Елизабет Колева, born 11 November 1972 in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

) is a

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 ...

n individual

rhythmic gymnast Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coord ...

Biography

Elizabeth Koleva was born in the city of

. Elizabeth began her sports career and gymnastics at club Slavia. She was one of the

Golden Girls of Bulgaria The "Golden Girls" of Bulgaria ( bg, Златните момичета на България) refers to the generation of female rhythmic gymnasts who represented Bulgaria from 1976 to 1999 when the team was coached by Neshka Robeva. In this period ...

that dominated Rhythmic Gymnastics in the 1980s. 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.Koleva Biography
/ref> She advanced to Senior the following year and at the 1987 World Championships Koleva tied with teammate

Adriana Dunavska Adriana Dunavska ( bg, Адриана Дунавска) (born 21 April 1969) is a Bulgarian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 1988 Olympic All-around silver medallist, 1987 World All-around silver medallist, 1989 World All-around bronze ...

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 ) 1972 births Bulgarian rhythmic gymnasts Living people Bulgarian emigrants to Italy Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships {{Bulgaria-rhythmic-gymnastics-bio-stub