Bilyana Dudova
Bulgarian freestyle wrestler (born 1997)
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Bilyana Dudova (Bulgarian: Биляна Живкова Дудова, born 1 August 1997) is a Bulgarian freestyle wrestler. She won the gold medal in the women's 59 kg event at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships in Oslo, Norway.[2][3] She also won silver at the 2018 World Wrestling Championships and she is a seven-time medalist, including four golds, at the European Wrestling Championships.
Career
In 2016, Dudova competed in the 53 kg event at the European Wrestling Championships held in Riga, Latvia. She also competed at the European Olympic Qualification Tournament hoping to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In 2017, Dudova won the gold medal in the 55 kg event at the European Wrestling Championships held in Novi Sad, Serbia.[4][5] She repeated this in 2018 in the 57 kg event and in 2019 in the 59 kg event.[6][7][8] In 2020, she won the silver medal in the women's 59 kg event.[9][10] In the final, she lost against Anastasia Nichita of Moldova.[9][10]
At the 2018 European U23 Wrestling Championship in Istanbul, Turkey, she won the gold medal in the women's 59 kg event.[11][12] In that same year, Dudova won the silver medal in the women's 57 kg event at the 2018 World Wrestling Championships held in Budapest, Hungary.[13] In the final, she lost against Rong Ningning of China.[13]
In 2021, Dudova won the gold medal in the 57 kg event at the Dan Kolov & Nikola Petrov Tournament held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.[14] She also won the gold medal in the 59 kg event at the European Wrestling Championships held in Warsaw, Poland.[15][16] She defeated Veronika Chumikova of Russia in the final.[15]
Dudova won the gold medal in the 62 kg event at the 2022 Dan Kolov & Nikola Petrov Tournament held in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria.[17] She also competed at the Yasar Dogu Tournament held in Istanbul, Turkey.[18] In that same year, Dudova competed in the 62 kg event at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia where she was eliminated in her second match by Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan.[19]
Dudova won one of the bronze medals in the 62 kg event at the 2023 European Wrestling Championships held in Zagreb, Croatia.[20][21] She lost her bronze medal match in the 62 kg event at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia.[22]
Dudova competed in the 62 kg event at the 2024 European Wrestling Championships held in Bucharest, Romania.[23] She was eliminated in her second match.[23] She competed at the 2024 European Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan and she earned a quota place for Bulgaria for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.[24][25] Dudova competed in the women's 62 kg event at the Olympics.[26] In the quarterfinals, she lost her match against Iryna Koliadenko of Ukraine and she was eliminated in the repechage by Pürevdorjiin Orkhon of Mongolia.[26]
Achievements
| Year | Tournament | Location | Result | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | European Championships | Novi Sad, Serbia | 1st | Freestyle 55 kg |
| 2018 | European Championships | Kaspiysk, Russia | 1st | Freestyle 57 kg |
| World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 2nd | Freestyle 57 kg | |
| 2019 | European Championships | Bucharest, Romania | 1st | Freestyle 59 kg |
| 2020 | European Championships | Rome, Italy | 2nd | Freestyle 59 kg |
| 2021 | European Championships | Warsaw, Poland | 1st | Freestyle 59 kg |
| World Championships | Oslo, Norway | 1st | Freestyle 59 kg | |
| 2023 | European Championships | Zagreb, Croatia | 3rd | Freestyle 62 kg |
| 2025 | European Championships | Bratislava, Slovakia | 3rd | Freestyle 62 kg |
