Marija Petrowa (gymnast)

Maria Petrova
Maria Petrova 2011
Personal information
Nationality:	Bulgaria
discipline	Rhythmic sports gymnastics
Trainer:	Neschka Robewa
Birthday:	13th November 1975 (age 44)
Place of birth:	Plovdiv , Bulgaria
Medal table
World championships 9 × 9 × 4 × European championships 3 × 1 × 3 × European Cup Final 3 × 1 × 0 × Summer Universiade 5 × 0 × 0 ×
Medals
World championships gold 1993 Alicante Individual all-around gold 1993 Alicante Single tire gold 1993 Alicante Single ball gold 1993 Alicante Single band gold 1993 Alicante All-around team gold 1994 Paris Individual all-around gold 1994 Paris Single tire gold 1995 Vienna Individual all-around gold 1995 Vienna Single clubs silver 1991 Athens All-around team silver 1992 Brussels Individual all-around silver 1992 Brussels Single ball silver 1992 Brussels Single clubs silver 1994 Paris Single band silver 1994 Paris Single clubs silver 1995 Vienna Single rope silver 1995 Vienna All-around team silver 1996 Budapest Single tire bronze 1992 Brussels Single tire bronze 1993 Alicante Single clubs bronze 1994 Paris Single ball bronze 1996 Budapest Single clubs  European championships gold 1992 Stuttgart Individual all-around gold 1992 Stuttgart All-around team gold 1994 Thessaloniki Individual all-around silver 1994 Thessaloniki Single tire bronze 1992 Stuttgart Single rope bronze 1994 Thessaloniki ball bronze 1994 Thessaloniki All-around team  European Cup Final gold 1993 Málaga Individual all-around gold 1993 Málaga Single band gold 1993 Málaga Single tire silver 1993 Málaga Single ball  Universiade gold 1995 Fukuoka Individual all-around gold 1995 Fukuoka Single ball gold 1995 Fukuoka Single band gold 1995 Fukuoka Single clubs gold 1995 Fukuoka Single rope

Marija Petrowa ( Bulgarian Мария Петрова ; English transcription Maria Petrova ; born November 13, 1975 in Plovdiv ) is a former Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast and multiple world and European champion.

Athletic career

Marija Petrowa was part of the "golden girls" generation that dominated the sport in the 1980s and early 1990s. She began her career at the age of five in the "Trakia" Plovdiv sports club , trained by Natalia Moravenova. From 1991 she was trained by Neschka Robewa in the sports club "Levski" Sofia. At her first World Cup appearance in Athens in 1991 , Petrowa took second place in the team competition after a tire fall.

Petrowa was one of the favorites to win a gold medal, but found himself fifth in the individual all-around final at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona after beating her because of the zipper on the back of her jersey that broke during her tire practice , a penalty was imposed. A few months later, at the World Championships, Petrowa took second place behind Russian Oksana Kostina and ahead of Belarusian Larissa Lukyanenko.

Marija Petrowa in 1993 in Malaga

Marija Petrowa achieved her greatest success in 1993 at the World Championships in Alicante , where she a. a. won five gold medals.

By becoming world champion three years in a row, she won the most individual all-around gold medals in the history of the world championships together with Marija Gigowa and Yevgenia Kanajewa and was thereby listed in the Guinness Book of Records .

End of active sports career

In 1998, Marija Petrowa married the Bulgarian footballer Borislav Michajlow . After the end of her active sports career, she became a member of the Bulgarian Association of Rhythmic Gymnastics in 2001. In the same year she was also elected as an international judge . In 2005 she became a member of the Technical Committee (TK) of the UEG for rhythmic gymnastics, four years later she was elected as Vice-President of the TK of the UEG and since 2017 she has been President of the TK of the UEG for rhythmic gymnastics.

Web links

Commons : Maria Petrova  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 24chasa.bg, October 5, 2014
2. ↑ Rhythmic Gymnastics - World Championships Group Final 1
3. ↑ Most individual world all-around rhythmic gymnastics titles (Guinness World Records)
4. ^ Bulgaria in the Guinness book of records
5. ↑ fbgr.org
6. ↑ European Gymnastics Union elected Farid Gajibow as new president (www.gymmedia.de)