Nikolova was born in Sofia and grew up in Pancharevo in a house with no running water or indoor plumbing. Her father taught history and geography at a high school, and she has one brother. The family moved to an apartment in Sofia in 1976, where Nikolova enrolled in gymnastics lessons.[1]
She initially had no coach; she and another girl would go to the national team's training hall and practice on their own. In 1977, a coach there noticed her talent and began to train her. She joined the national team in 1983, and that year, she became a member of the national senior group.[1]
As a member of the group, she won all-around gold at the 1983 World Championships in Strasbourg.[2] At the 1984 European Championships, the group won another all-around gold medal.[1] The next year, group retained their World title at the 1985 World Championships in Valladolid.[3][4] Nikolova retired from competing that year at age 18 as she could not handle the training workload any longer, though she made several attempts at returning to the sport.[1]
After her retirement, she began working as an assistant coach and met her husband, Iliya Dyakov, a former football player who represented Bulgaria at the 1986 World Cup.[1] She has three children with him: Paola, Denis and Stiliana. Stiliana is a successful rhythmic gymnast who began training with her older sister Paola before she moved alone to Bulgaria for training at age 13.[1][5][6] In 1993, Nikolova returned from maternity leave, but she was fired from her coaching position. Her former personal coach suggested she go to teach in Cairo.[1]
Nikolova moved with her family to Cairo after she received a contract as a rhythmic gymnastics coach at the New Giza club, where she still works along her daughter Paola.[7][8] She coached the Egyptian team that took silver at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics.[1]
Bulgaria