Margarita Vasileva ( Bulgarian: Маргарита Василева; born 30 May 2005) is a retired Bulgarian

rhythmic gymnast Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform individually or in groups on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon and rope. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, fle ...

. She is world champion with the Bulgarian team in All-around at the world championship 2022 in Sofia and world champion in final with 3 ribbons+2balls. She is the 2024 European all-around champion and team champion. She won gold in the senior team competition at the

2022 European Championships The 2022 European Championships were the second edition of the European Championships (multi-sport event), European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Munich, Germany from 11 to 21 August 2022. The event started three d ...

Personal life

She started to train in rhythmic gymnastics when she was 7, encouraged by her mother. Her idol is former group captain Simona Dyankova and her goal is to become Olympic champion.

Career

Vasileva was selected for the Bulgarian junior group in 2017, winning medals internationally, but failing to do so in important meets such as the junior

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

and

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Senior

In 2022, when the girls of the previous senior group retired after becoming Olympic champions, Vasileva became a starter in the two routines since the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

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, where the group won silver in the All-Around and 3 ribbons + 2 balls and bronze with 5 hoops. She also took part in the stages of

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

(bronze with 5 hoops and silver with 3 ribbons + 2 balls) and Cluji-Napoca (All-Around, 5 hoops and 3 ribbons + 2 balls gold). In June she was part of the group for the

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

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, she won gold in the senior team category along with Vaya Draganova,

Zhenina Trashlieva Zhenina Trashileva (Bulgarian language, Bulgarian: Женина Трашлиева; born 14 April 1997) is a Bulgarians, Bulgarian Rhythmic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnast. She is world champion in All-Around with the Bulgarian team and world champi ...

, Sofia Ivanova, Rachel Stoyanov, Kamelia Petrova and the individuals

Boryana Kaleyn Boryana Nikolaeva Kaleyn (; born 23 August 2000) is a Bulgarians, Bulgarian retired individual Rhythmic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2024 Paris Olympics, 2024 Paris Olympic all-around silver medalist. She is the 2023 Rhythmic Gymnast ...

and Stiliana Nikolova. In 2023 the group started in Marbella, where she won the All-Around as well as the gold medals in the finals with 5 hoops and with 2 balls and 3 ribbons. Later they won All-Around silver at the

in Athens, they won gold in the same category two weeks later in Sofia. In March 2024 Margarita and the group were 5th in the All-Around and 6th with 2 balls and 3 ribbons at the

in Athens. In April the girls won bronze in the All-Around and silver with 3 ribbons and 2 balls in Sofia. In June, Margarita and the group won gold medal in the All-around at the 2024 European Championships in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Hungary. They also won gold in Team event, together with

, Elvira Krasnobaeva and Stiliana Nikolova. They placed 4th in 5 Hoops final and 8th in 3 Ribbons + 2 Balls final. In August she was selected for the

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, where Margarita, Kamelia Petrova, Sofia Ivanova, Rachel Stoyanov and Magdalina Minevska, took 4th place in the final after making mistakes in the 5 hoops routine. In October she announced she made the decision to retire along Petrova, Minevska and Stoyanov. However, in December it was announced that Rachel Stoyanov had decided to continue after undergoing surgery on her

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. So, Stoyanov is included in the new national team along with her old teammate Sofia Ivanova who is the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the group.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vasileva, Margarita 2005 births Living people Bulgarian rhythmic gymnasts Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships Gymnasts from Sofia Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships Gymnasts at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for Bulgaria