Maria Petrova (rhythmic gymnast)

Maria Petrova
Personal information
Country represented	Bulgaria
Born	November 13, 1975 (1975-11-13) (age 36)
Discipline	Rhythmic gymnastics
Medal record World Championships Gold 1993 Alicante All-around Gold 1993 Alicante Hoop Gold 1993 Alicante Ball Gold 1993 Alicante Ribbon Gold 1993 Alicante Team Gold 1994 Paris All-around Gold 1994 Paris Hoop Gold 1995 Vienna All-Around Gold 1995 Vienna Clubs Silver 1991 Athens Team Silver 1992 Brussels All-around Silver 1992 Brussels Ball Silver 1992 Brussels Clubs Silver 1994 Paris Clubs Silver 1994 Paris Ribbon Silver 1995 Vienna Rope Silver 1995 Vienna Team Silver 1996 Budapest Ball Bronze 1992 Brussels Hoop Bronze 1993 Alicante Clubs Bronze 1994 Paris Ball Bronze 1996 Budapest Clubs European Championships Gold 1992 Stuttgart All-around Gold 1992 Stuttgart Team Gold 1993 Málaga All-around Gold 1993 Málaga Hoop Gold 1993 Málaga Ribbon Gold 1994 Thessalonika All-around Silver 1993 Málaga Ball Silver 1994 Thessalonika Hoop Bronze 1992 Stuttgart Rope Bronze 1994 Thessalonika Ball Bronze 1994 Thessalonika Team

Maria Petrova (Bulgarian: Мария Петрова) (born November 13, 1975 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast. She shares the world record for the most individual world all-around rhythmic gymnastics titles of all time and has never placed lower than seventh in any competition in her entire career.^[1]

Career

Petrova began her training at the age of five at Trakia Plovdiv Club in Plovdiv, Bulgaria coached by Natalia Moravenova. In her first World Championship appearance in 1991, she is already coached by the great Neshka Robeva at the Levski Sofia Club and came second in the team competition after a hoop drop.

Petrova found herself in fifth at the Barcelona Olympics after a penalty of .20 was imposed due to the zipper on the back of her leotard that had broken during her hoop exercise. A few months later, Petrova took second place behind Oxana Kostina and ahead of Larissa Lukyanenko.

In 1993, Petrova performed with her Panovaesque ball to an Indian melody. She also competed in a ribbon exercise, and a small-toss filled clubs routine to Suzanne Vega's "Tom's Diner". Her final performance to Carmina Burana caused a great crowd ovation. She went on to win the all-around, as well as three more gold medals (ball, hoop, ribbon) and a bronze medal (clubs).

She went on to win one more European title and two more world titles (shared in 1995 with Yekaterina Serebrianskaya), tying her with countrywoman Maria Guigova for the most wins in the latter category. Although she had tried to retire several times after her first World title, Petrova continued competing as a favor to the Bulgarian national team, which was in a rebuilding phase after the Eastern European Communist collapse.

Petrova shares the world record for most individual world all-around rhythmic gymnastics titles with Maria Gigova. Petrova's three titles were earned in 1993, 1994, and 1995 (shared).

In 1998 Petrova married Bulgarian footballer Borislav Mikhailov. She is currently a judge in rhythmic gymnastics.

Vital statistics

• Height: 1.73 m (5' 8")
• Weight: 108 lb (49 kg)

References

1. ^ Knapp, Gwen (April 21, 1997). "Timing is of the essence for gymnast". sfgate.com. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/examiner/article.cgi?year=1996&month=06&day=16&article=SPORTS5827.dtl. Retrieved 2008-07-23. 

External links

• Maria Petrova at Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique
• Whatever happnedto Maria Petrova? (English)

Persondata
Name	Petrova, Maria
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	November 13, 1975
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death