Silvia Zarkova Mitova (later ''Hutchinson'', bg, Силвия Заркова Митова, born 29 June 1976) is a retired Bulgarian artistic gymnast. A five-time Bulgarian Champion, she placed fourth-sixth in some individual events at the 1991 and 1992 world championships. She competed in at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

with the best result of eighth place in the floor exercise. The same year she won a bronze medal in the vault at the European championships. Mitova was born to the Olympic gymnast

Maya Blagoeva Maya Blagoeva (later ''Mitova'', bg, Мая Благоева; born 25 July 1956) is a retired Bulgarian artistic gymnast. A seven-time national champion, she competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics . Blagoeva has a bachelor's degree in physical ...

and Olympic gymnastics coach Zarko Mitov. One month after the 1992 Olympics Mitova received a serious neck injury while training on a trampoline. She was paralyzed, but partly regained mobility after a series of surgeries. Despite political difficulties of the Cold War era she was allowed to stay for three months in South Africa, where she underwent further neurosurgery free of charge – the costs were covered by local sponsors. She then returned to Bulgaria and immigrated to the United States, where she married Artie Hutchinson and changed her last name. Currently she runs the Silvia's Gymnastics gym in Pennsylvania, together with her husband and parents.

References

1976 births Living people Gymnasts at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for Bulgaria Bulgarian female artistic gymnasts {{Bulgaria-artistic-gymnastics-bio-stub