Lyubomira Kazanova
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- Luba
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Lyubomira Milkova Kazanova Aleksandrova | ||||||||||||||||||||
Nickname |
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| Born | 23 May 1996 Sofia, Bulgaria | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Gymnastics career | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Rhythmic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented |  Bulgaria | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Levski Sofia | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach | Ina Ananieva | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Assistant coach | Stela Hristova | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Lyubomira Milkova Kazanova (Bulgarian: Любомира Милкова Казанова; born 23 May 1996) is a Bulgarian former group rhythmic gymnast. She won bronze medals with the Bulgarian group at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2016 European Championships.
Her father, Milko Kazanov, competed in canoe sprint for Bulgaria and is a four-time Olympian (1992-2004). He won a bronze medal in the K2 1000m at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.[2] She married Bulgarian rower Aleksandar Aleksandrov in September 2018. Together they have two daughters, Sofia and Daria.[3]
Career
She began rhythmic gymnastics when she was four years old.[4]
Kazanova had been the reserve for the Bulgarian group for three years, but she was added to the group in 2016 after Tsvetelina Stoyanova's suicide attempt.[2] Her first competition was the 2016 European Championships in Holon, Israel.[5] There, the group finished fifth in the group all-around and fourth in 5 ribbons. Then in the 6 clubs and 2 hoops, they won the bronze medal behind Israel and Spain.[6] She competed at the 2016 Kazan World Challenge Cup and helped Bulgaria win the gold medal in 5 ribbons ahead of Russia and Israel.[7]
Kazanova competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, alongside Reneta Kamberova, Mihaela Maevska, Tsvetelina Naydenova, Hristiana Todorova. They only qualified for the group all-around final in seventh place, but they went on to win the bronze medal. This marked the third time Bulgaria won an Olympic medal in the event, after bronze in 2004 and silver in 1996.[8] They dedicated their medal to their teammate Stoyanova.[9] Kazanova announced her retirement at the end of 2016 and shared she had been competing throughout the year with a fractured ankle.[10][11]
After retiring from the sport, Kazanova started working as a coach in Levski Iliana club.[12]
