Nikolina Pavlova Shtereva ( bg, Николина Павлова Щерева; born 25 January 1955) is a retired

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 ...

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

who specialised in the

800 __NOTOC__ Year 800 ( DCCC) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. It was around this time that the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years, so f ...

and

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

. She is best known for her silver medal in 800 metres at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

, and at the

European Indoor Championships The European Indoor Championships was a men's tennis tournament played in Berlin, Germany. The event was played as part of the ATP Tour in 1990 and 1991. It was played on indoor carpet courts. Finals Singles Doubles See also * Berlin Open ...

she won gold medals in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

and

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

and a bronze medal in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

. She won fourteen national titles (outdoor; as well as seven indoor) in Bulgaria, and is still the Bulgarian record holder in the 800 metres.

International career

She was born 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 ha ...

, and represented the club CSKA Septemvrisko Zname during her career. In the 1970s and 1980s she was a prolific competitor at the European Indoor Championships. She finished sixth at the 1975 European Indoor Championships, clocking in only 2:20.3 seconds, but then won the gold medal at the 1976 European Indoor Championships. She edged out countrywoman

Lilyana Tomova Lilyana Tomova-Todorova ( bg, Лиляна Томова-Тодорова), born 9 August 1946) is a retired Bulgarian sprinter and middle-distance runner who specialized in the 400, 800 and 1500 metres. Lilyana was born in Plovdiv, and represente ...

with 0.4 seconds, and Bulgaria almost managed a gold-silver-bronze constellation, but

Ivanka Bonova Ivanka Bonova ( bg, Иванка Бонова, born 4 April 1949) is a retired Bulgarian sprinter and middle-distance runner who specialized in the women's 400 and 800 metres. She was born in Raduil, and represented the clubs Balkan and Levski-S ...

lost the bronze medal to

Gisela Klein Gisela Ellenberger (born 12 July 1950) is a German middle-distance runner. She competed in the women's 800 metres at the 1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly know ...

. She won another gold medal at the 1979 European Indoor Championships, 0.3 seconds ahead of

Anita Weiß Anita Weiß (née Barkusky, later married Kehl and Marg; born 16 July 1955 in Burow) is a retired East German athlete who specialized in the 800 metres and later also 400 metres hurdles. In the 1976 Olympics she finished fourth in the 800 metres r ...

, and finished sixth at the 1982 European Indoor Championships. She also won the 800 metres event at the

1979 IAAF World Cup The 2nd IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held on August 24–26, 1979, at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Overall resu ...

. In winning her medals at the 1976 and 1979 European Indoor Championships, she was a part of a strong tradition of Bulgarian 800 metres runners, who won medals at the European Indoor Championships in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

and

. Other than Shtereva, these medals were taken by

Svetla Zlateva Svetla Stefanova Zlateva ( bg, Светла Стефанова Златева; born 25 February 1952) is a retired Bulgarian sprinter and middle-distance runner who specialized in the 400 and 800 metres. She is a former world record holder in the ...

(1972),

Stefka Yordanova Stefka Yordanova ( bg, Стефка Йорданова; 9 January 1947 – 16 January 2011) was a Bulgarian sprinter and middle-distance runner who specialized in the 400 and 800 metres. Born in Burgas, she ran at the 1971 European Indoor Champ ...

(1973),

Rositsa Pekhlivanova Rositsa Pekhlivanova ( bg, Росица Пехливанова, born 31 January 1955) is a retired Bulgarian middle-distance runner who specialized in the 1500 metres. She was born in Sliven, and represented the clubs Sliven, Levski-Spartak Clu ...

(1975),

(1976) and

Totka Petrova Totka Nikolaeva Petrova ( bg, Тотка Петрова, born 17 December 1956) is a retired female middle distance runner who represented Bulgaria in the 1970s and the early 1980s. She specialized in the 800 and 1500 metres, and won numerous int ...

(1977, 1978). Shtereva also competed in the Olympic Games twice, in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

and

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. Both times she competed in both 800 and 1500 metres. In the 1976 Olympic 800 metres event she started by finishing second in the initial heat with 2:01.02 minutes, then second in the semi-final with 1:57.35 minutes. In the final she won the silver medal behind Soviet

Tatyana Kazankina Tatyana Vasilyevna Kazankina (russian: Татья́на Васи́льевна Каза́нкина; born 17 December 1951 in Petrovsk, Saratov Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a Soviet/Russian former runner who set s ...

(gold) but ahead of East German

Elfi Zinn Elfi Zinn ( Rost, born 24 August 1953 in Rathebur) is a German middle distance runner who specialised in the 800 metres. She won the silver medal at the 1973 European Indoor Championships and the bronze medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics. ...

(bronze). Kazankina set a new

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

of 1:54.94 minutes, while Shtereva clocked in 1:55.42 minutes. The previous world record was 1:56.0 minutes, achieved by

Valentina Gerasimova Valentina Gerasimova (born May 15, 1948 in Quaraghandy, Quaraghandy Province, Kazakhstan) was a Soviet era track and field athlete specializing in middle distances. She competed in the 1976 Olympics. She entered the event as the world record ho ...

in June the same year. In the 1976 Olympic 1500 metres event Shtereva reached the final as well, after a fourth place in the heat and a second place in the semi-final. In the final round she finished fourth with 4:06.57 minutes, despite having clocked in 4:02.33 minutes in the semi-final. Kazankina won the gold again; Shtereva was 0.48 seconds too late for the bronze medal. In the 1980 Olympic 800 metres event she achieved similar results in all the three rounds. She first ran in 1:58.83 minutes to finish third in round one, and in 1:58.87 minutes to finish fourth in the semi-final. In the final she ran in 1:58.71 to finish seventh. In the 1980 Olympic 1500 metres event she ran in 4:08.25 minutes in the first round, better than in the equivalent round of the 1976 Olympics, but this time it was not enough to progress from the heats. She later finished seventh in the final at the 1982 European Championships.

Domestic titles

Shtereva became Bulgarian champion in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

in 1974, 800 metres champion in 1974, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1989, 1500 metres champion 1980, 1985 and 1986 and

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

champion in 1986. In the 800 metres she established a long-standing championship record with her 1:57.2 minutes, achieved in 1979. After Shtereva's last national championship victory in the 800 metres, the hegemony was taken over by Petya Strashilova who won every year but one (1996) between 1990 and 1998. She also became Bulgarian indoor champion in the 800 metres in 1974, 1976, 1979, 1980 and 1987, in the 1500 metres in 1976 and 1987 and in the

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

in 1986. She achieved championship records all three events, with 2:01.1 minutes, 4:09.80 minutes and 9:06.61 minutes respectively; the two latter times were beat in 2000 by Daniela Yordanova, with 4:08.53 minutes and 8:52.90 minutes respectively.

Personal bests

The times achieved by Shtereva at the 1976 Summer Olympics, 1:55.42 in the 800 metres and 4:02.33 in the 1500 metres, remained her personal best times. She still holds the Bulgarian record in the 800 metres. She also had 2:33.8 minutes in the 1000 metres, achieved in July 1976 in

, 4:30.26 minutes in the

mile run The mile run (1,760 yards or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and field's switch to ...

, achieved in June 1988 in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

, 9:00.38 minutes in the 3000 metres, achieved in August 1978 in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

, and 15:37.49 minutes in the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

, achieved in May 1985 in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

.World women's all-time best 5000m
(last updated 2001)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shtereva, Nikolina 1955 births Living people Sportspeople from Sofia Bulgarian female middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of Bulgaria Olympic silver medalists for Bulgaria Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade bronze medalists for Bulgaria Medalists at the 1975 Summer Universiade