Sofia Ivanova (Bulgarian: София Иванова; born 15 September 2005) is a Bulgarianrhythmic gymnast. She is a world champion with the Bulgarian team in World Championships 2022 in Sofia and world champion with 3 ribbons+2 balls. She is the European all-around champion and team champion with the Bulgarian team in 2023 and 2024, as well as a silver medalist in the 5-hoop final. She won gold in the senior team competition at the 2022 European Championships.
Career
Junior
She first entered the spotlight in 2017, when she entered the national team[1] and started to attend competitions abroad.[2]
Senior
In 2021 Ivanova started competing in the senior category, winning bronze in the national championship[3] and gold in the team competition.[4] She competed at minor tournaments, like the Sofia cup and the Irina Deleanu cup as she was not considered among the top individuals.[5][6]
In late 2021 Ivanova was included in the group.[7] In 2022, when the girls of the previous group retired after becoming Olympic champions, she became a starter in the two routines. Her first competition was the Grand Prix in Marbella, Spain.[8] The group then took part in the World Cup stages in Sofia (All-Around and 5 hoops gold, silver with 3 ribbons + 2 balls),[9]Tashkent (All-Around and 5 hoops gold, bronze with 3 ribbons + 2 balls), Pesaro (All-Around and 3 ribbons + 2 balls silver and 5 hoops bronze),[10]Pamplona (bronze with 5 hoops and silver with 3 ribbons + 2 balls) and Cluj-Napoca (All-Around, 5 hoops and 3 ribbons + 2 balls gold).[11] In June she was part of the group for the European Championship in Tel Aviv, she won gold in the senior team category along with Vaya Draganova, Zhenina Trashlieva, Kamelia Petrova, Rachel Stoyanov, Margarita Vasileva and the individuals Boryana Kaleyn and Stiliana Nikolova.[12]
In 2023 the group started in Marbella, where she won the All-Around as well as the gold medals in the finals with 5 hoops and with 2 balls and 3 ribbons. Later they won All-Around silver at the World Cup in Athens, they won gold in the same category two weeks later in Sofia.[13] At the 2023 European Championships, held in Baku, she won gold medals in both Group All-around and Team competition. In 5 Hoops final, she won silver medal and placed 5th in 3 Ribbons + 2 Balls final.[14]
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