Zoya Grancharova
Bulgarian artistic gymnast
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Zoya Grancharova (Bulgarian: Зоя Грънчарова; born 6 May 1966) is a Bulgarian former artistic gymnast. She won the bronze medal on floor exercise at the 1981 World Championships, making her the first Bulgarian woman to medal at the World Championships.
| Zoya Grancharova | |
|---|---|
Зоя Грънчарова | |
| Born | 6 May 1966 (age 60) Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Gymnastics career | |
| Discipline | Women's artistic gymnastics |
Country represented | |
Personal life
Grancharova married Nikolai Kolev, a wrestling coach, with whom she has a son, Victor, and a daughter, Georgia.[1]
Career
Grancharova was known for her choreography on the floor exercise, which used unusual movements; she said that she intentionally tried to create routines that were different from what other gymnasts were performing.[1]
She competed at the 1981 World Championships, where she finished 17th in the all-around and qualified to the floor final, where she won the bronze medal. This was the first time a woman representing Bulgaria won a medal at the World Championships.[1]
In 1982, she competed at the American Cup, and she tied Julianne McNamara for first place. It was the only time that the title was tied.[2]
Grancharova competed at the 1983 European Championships. There she was 6th in the all-around and qualified to three apparatus finals, with her best placement being 4th on the floor exercise.[3][4] She also competed at her second World Championships, where she placed 8th in the all-around and 5th in the floor final.[1][5]
Due to the Soviet boycott of the 1984 Olympics, she competed at the Friendship Games instead that year and placed 12th in the all-around.[6] Later in the year, she had a severe injury where she broke her arm in several places and had nerve damage that prevented her from moving her fingers. She took a year off to recover but decided to end her competitive career.[1]
After her retirement, she moved to Toronto in 1991 with her husband to coach.[1]
Competitive history
| Year | Event | Team | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Balkan Championships |  | | ||||
| Junior Friendship Tournament | 4 | 7 | |||||
| 1981 | Balkan Championships | | 5 | | | 5 | |
| Blume Memorial | 6 | | |||||
| Moscow News | 10 | ||||||
| World Championships | 4 | 17 |  | ||||
| 1982 | McDonald's American Cup |  | |||||
| Golden Sands | | | | ||||
| Rome Grand Prix | 8 | ||||||
| Tokyo Cup | | | |||||
| World Cup Final | 10 | 6 | 8 | 8 | |||
| 1983 | Balkan Championships | | |||||
| European Championships | 6 | 7 | 6 | 4 | |||
| World Championships | 4 | 8 | 5 | ||||
| 1984 | Chunichi Cup | 10 | |||||
| Friendship Games | 12 | 5 | 6 | ||||
| Golden Sands | | | |||||