Boriana Stoyanova


Boriana Stoyanova is a Bulgarian retired artistic gymnast. She was the 1983 World Champion on the vault, making her the first Bulgarian woman to win a World title, and represented Bulgaria at the 1984 Friendship Games and the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

Personal life

Stoyanova was born in Sofia. In 1990, she married a fellow gymnastics coach, Georgi Kazakov, and had a son also named Georgi. They divorced in 1995. Stoyanova said that she didn't want her son to compete in gymnastics due to "difficulties in this sport".

Career

In 1982, Stoyanova competed at the Moscow News Prize tournament, where she won the all-around silver medal and gold on the balance beam. She was the first non-Soviet gymnast to win an all-around medal at the tournament, and she and Ri-chol Hon were awarded prizes for best performances by foreign gymnasts.
In 1983, Stoyanova competed at the European Championships, where she won a bronze on floor and tied for bronze on vault with Lavinia Agache. Later in the year, at the World Championships, she placed fourth in the all-around. She won bronze in the floor exercise and gold in the vault final; this was the first time a Bulgarian woman had won a title at the World Championships.
In 1984, due to the 1984 Summer Olympics boycott, Stoyanova competed at the alternative Friendship Games. The Bulgarian women's team placed fourth in the team event. Stoyanova was 7th in the all-around and reached three of the event finals, only missing the balance beam final.
In 1985, Stoyanova competed at the 1985 World Championships, where she finished 11th in the all-around. In the vault final, she was 5th. The next year, at the 1986 World Cup, she placed 6th in the all-around and reached every event final.
She competed at the 1987 European Championships, where she placed 6th in the all-around and reached three event finals, with her best result being 4th on floor. Later that year, she was 10th in the all-around at the 1987 World Championships and again finished the vault final in 5th place.
Her last competition was the 1988 Summer Olympics, where she finished in 13th place in the all-around and fourth in the vault final. After the Olympics, Stoyanova began to coach at the CSKA club, although she stopped by 2002. She attended the opening of the 2019 Bulgarian championships, where she and other gymnasts such as Stoyan Deltchev were recognized for their achievements.