Valentina Georgieva (Bulgarian: Валентина Георгиева; born 28 July 2006)[1] is a Bulgarian artistic gymnast. She is the 2024 European silver medalist on vault. She missed nearly two years of competition due to an injury at the 2022 European Championships, but she returned to competition during the 2024 FIG World Cup series. She represented Bulgaria at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Valentina Georgieva
Personal information
Nickname(s)Valya
Country represented Bulgaria
Born (2006-07-28) 28 July 2006 (age 18)
Sofia, Bulgaria
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
ClubLevski Spartak
Head coach(es)Filip Yanev
Medal record
Representing  Bulgaria
European Championships
Silver medal – second place 2024 Rimini Vault
FIG World Cup
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Apparatus World Cup 1 2 1
World Challenge Cup 1 0 0
Total 2 2 1

Early life

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Georgieva was born on 28 July 2006 in Sofia. She began rhythmic gymnastics when she was four years old, but she switched to artistic gymnastics at age seven. She has an older brother named Nikolay.[2]

Gymnastics career

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Junior career

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Georgieva competed at the 2020 Junior European Championships in Mersin, where she won the silver medal on vault behind Romania's Ana Bărbosu.[3] She also finished 14th in the all-around,[4] and the Bulgarian team placed eighth.[5] She was also the Bulgarian junior national all-around champion between 2018 and 2021.[6]

2022

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Georgieva became age-eligible for senior competition in 2022 and made her senior international debut at the Baku World Cup. She was the top qualifier for the vault final, but she finished seventh in the final.[7] She went on to compete at the Varna World Challenge Cup, where she qualified to both the vault and floor exercise finals, finishing seventh and sixth, respectively.[8] She won her first senior international medal at the Osijek World Challenge Cup in Croatia, taking the gold medal in the vault final ahead of Teja Belak and Tjaša Kysselef.[9] This marked the first time a Bulgarian female artistic gymnast won a medal at a FIG World Challenge Cup since 2017.[6] Additionally, she finished seventh in the floor final.[10]

Georgieva competed at the 2022 European Championships in Munich, where she qualified to the vault final in sixth place.[11] However, she sustained an injury on the landing of her first of two vaults in the final, and could not finish the competition.[12][13] It was later reported that she had suffered a femoral fracture and a torn ACL.[14] On 9 September, she had surgery to repair her ACL as well as her meniscus.[15]

2024

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Georgieva announced that she would return to competition at the 2024 FIG World Cup series with the goal of qualifying for the 2024 Olympic Games.[15] Her first competition was the Cairo World Cup where she placed second on vault behind North Korea's An Chang-ok.[16] She next finished second at the Cottbus World Cup, once again behind An.[17] At the third World Cup in the series, in Baku, she won the gold medal and secured her qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games.[18][19][2] At the Doha World Cup, the final competition in the series, Georgieva won bronze on vault behind Karla Navas and An. In May Georgieva competed at the European Championships where she won silver on vault Coline Devillard.[20]

At the 2024 Olympic Games Georgieva qualified to the vault final where she ultimately finished fifth.[21]

Competitive history

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Georgieva vaulting at the 2022 European Championships
Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
Junior
2020
European Championships 8 14  
Senior
2022 Baku World Cup 7
Varna World Challenge Cup 7 6
Osijek World Challenge Cup   7
European Championships DNF
2024 Cairo World Cup  
Cottbus World Cup  
Baku World Cup  
Doha World Cup  
European Championships  
Olympic Games 5

References

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  1. ^ "Georgieva Valentina". Munich 2022. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  2. ^ a b Crumlish, John (22 March 2024). "Bulgaria's Valentina Georgieva on Paris 2024: 'I achieved this goal through a clean and safe performance'". International Gymnast Magazine. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  3. ^ Ivanov, Christian (20 December 2020). "Iordache, Kovacs Golden Twice As Women's European Championships Conclude". International Gymnast Magazine. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  4. ^ "33rd European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships Women Artistic Gymnastics Qualification All-Around Rankings" (PDF). European Gymnastics. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  5. ^ "33rd European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships Women Artistic Gymnastics Teams Qualification" (PDF). European Gymnastics. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  6. ^ a b Ivanov, Christian (21 June 2022). "Bulgaria's Valentina Georgieva credits recent success on ambition and motivation". International Gymnast Magazine. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  7. ^ "Start list of stars awaits Varna World Challenge Cup series debut". International Gymnastics Federation. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  8. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (30 May 2022). "2022 Varna Challenge Cup Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  9. ^ Crumlish, John (12 June 2022). "Seven countries golden at Challenge Cup of Osijek". International Gymnast Magazine. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  10. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (13 June 2022). "2022 Osijek Challenge Cup Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  11. ^ "2022 European Championships results". European Gymnastics. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  12. ^ "Тежка контузия при прескок лиши Валентина Георгиева от шанс за медал на Европейското" [A serious injury during a vault deprived Valentina Georgieva of a chance for a medal at the European Championships]. Dir bg (in Bulgarian). 14 August 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  13. ^ Gunston, Jo (14 August 2022). "European Championships Munich 2022: Women's artistic gymnastics apparatus finals as it happened". Olympic Channel. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  14. ^ "Гимнастичката Валентина Георгиева е с пукната бедрена кост, предстои операция" [Gymnast Valentina Georgieva has a broken femur, surgery is pending]. 24 Часа (in Bulgarian). 23 August 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  15. ^ a b "Най-добрата ни гимнастичка се завръща 17 месеца след кошмарната травма" [Our best gymnast is back 17 months after the nightmare injury]. Dir Bg (in Bulgarian). 13 January 2024. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  16. ^ "Olympic qualification is on as 2024 Artistic Gymnastics Apparatus World Cup series comes alive in Cairo". International Gymnastics Federation. 20 February 2024. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  17. ^ "Champions in Cottbus! All the thrills from a World Cup weekend to remember". International Gymnastics Federation. 27 February 2024. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  18. ^ Rusev, Momchil (9 March 2024). "Artistic Gymnast Valentina Georgieva Wins Gold in Vault Final at Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Baku, Secures Olympic Quota". Bulgarian News Agency. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  19. ^ "Валентина Георгиева спечели златен медал на прескок на Световната купа по спортна гимнастика в Баку" [Valentina Georgieva won a gold medal on vault at the Gymnastics World Cup in Baku]. Dsport (in Bulgarian). 9 March 2024. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  20. ^ "Devillard, D'Amato and Esposito win European apparatus titles in Rimini". International Olympic Committee. May 4, 2024.
  21. ^ "Women's Vault - Final results" (PDF). Olympics. 3 August 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.