Rumyana Neykova ( bg, Румяна Нейкова; born 6 April 1973 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 ...

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...

. Neykova competed at the

1992 Summer 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 ...

, the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

, where she won silver in Single Sculls, the 2004 Summer Olympics, where she won bronze and the 2008 Summer Olympics, where she won gold in the same discipline. Her current coach is her husband Svilen Neykov. In 2002, she set the world best time of 7:07:41 on 21 September in Seville ESP and she was named Bulgarian Sportswoman of the Year, as well as FISA Female Rower of the Year. Neykova has been involved in rowing since 1985, when she began training at

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia ( bg, ЦСКА София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sport ...

coached Verka Aleksieva. In 1989, she was vice-world junior champion, winning that title in 1990. After several unsuccessful attempts with women's doubles and quadruples, she switched to Single Sculls and won her first medal at the 1999 world championships in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. She has two world titles in that discipline, at

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

2002 and

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

2003, as well as being world second in 2007 in Gifu. At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, she narrowly lost the Olympic title to Ekaterina Karsten of

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

photo finish A photo finish occurs in a sporting race when multiple competitors cross the finishing line at nearly the same time. As the naked eye may not be able to determine which of the competitors crossed the line first, a photo or video taken at the finis ...

, in what was seen in Bulgaria as a very controversial judges' decision. After the Olympics, she took a one-year break, giving birth to her son Emil who has followed his parents footsteps and has become a successful rower. At the Athens Olympics in 2004, she finished third in Single Sculls, behind

Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski ( Rutschow, born 2 April 1975 in Waren (Müritz)) is a German rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and Karsten. At the 2005 world championships, she also competed in Double Sculls, coming second together with Miglena Markova. Neykova finally won her first Olympic title at the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, beating

Michelle Guerette Michelle Guerette (born October 6, 1980) is an American rower who competed in the Women's Quadruple Sculls event at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. In the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Guerette earned a Silver Medal in Women's Sin ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

as well as her year-long rival Karsten to secure the gold medal on 16 August. With her title in Beijing, Neykova has a full collection of Olympic medals: a silver, a bronze and a gold one.

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neykova, Rumyana Living people 1973 births Rowers from Sofia Bulgarian female rowers Olympic rowers for Bulgaria Rowers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Bulgaria Olympic bronze medalists for Bulgaria Olympic silver medalists for Bulgaria Olympic medalists in rowing Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics World Rowing Championships medalists for Bulgaria European Rowing Championships medalists