Sonia Radeva (, born 11 March 1985 in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

) is a

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n former competitive

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

. She is a seven-time consecutive Bulgarian national champion (2003–2009) and reached the free skate at two ISU Championships – the 2005 European Championships in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, Italy, and the 2006 European Championships in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, France.

Biography

Radeva began skating at age 4 after she went to the rink with her mother and sister. She won seven consecutive national titles from 2003 to 2009 and came second at the Bulgarian Championships in the 2010–2011 season behind

Hristina Vassileva Hristina Vassileva-Zhecheva (, born July 22, 1984) is a Bulgarian figure skating coach and choreographer in USA, and former competitor. She is six time Bulgarian national champion and reached the free skate at four ISU Championships. She achieve ...

. During her career, Radeva worked as a caterer and then as a children's coach to pay for skating costs. In 2006, Radeva made her only appearance on the Grand Prix series when she competed at the

2006 Trophée Éric Bompard The 2006 Trophée Éric Bompard was the fourth event of six in the 2006–07 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Palais Omnisports Paris Bercy in Paris on November 17 ...

. There she placed 11th in the short program and moved up to 10th place overall after the free skate. In 2008, she injured her

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) In physics (particularly liquid statics), the meniscus (: menisci, ) is the curve in the upper sur ...

. Though she did not skate well at the Bulgarian Championships, she still won and was sent to the 2009 European Championships. The Bulgarian Skating Federation highlighted that they did not have many resources to assist and prepare athletes like Radeva. Radeva herself later said that many athletes competing for Bulgaria trained outside of the country due to a lack of resources. For example, at the 2010 European Championships, Radeva wore skates that were four years old, had broken lace hooks, and were reinforced with duct tape, as she had waited six months to receive new skates, and on arrival they were defective. She reused a costume from the previous season that had been decorated by herself and her coach to save on costs. Radeva also said that the condition of the rink in

where she trained was not very good. The Bulgarian Skating Federation did not allow her or any other skaters to attempt to qualify for the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

as they did not believe any would be able to do so. Radeva said that the skaters had trained for the final qualifying event, the

2009 Nebelhorn Trophy The 2009 Nebelhorn Trophy was held between September 23 and 26, 2009 in Oberstdorf, Germany. It served as the final Olympic qualifier to the 2010 Winter Olympics. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skati ...

, and that she was sad to have not been given the chance to go. Radeva halted her competitive career due to a lack of pay in Bulgaria and began performing in skating shows on cruise ships. Between trips, she trains children at the

Winter Sports Palace The Winter Sports Palace is an ice hockey arena in Sofia, Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river ...

in Sofia.

Programs

Competitive highlights

''GP:

Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...

; JGP:

Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Radeva, Sonia Bulgarian female single skaters 1985 births Living people Figure skaters from Sofia