Yordanka Donkova ( bg, Йорданка Донкова) (born 28 September 1961) is a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

n former

hurdling Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

athlete, notable for winning an Olympic gold medal and bronze medal as well as nine medals at European

indoor Indoor(s) may refer to: *the interior of a building *Indoor environment, in building science, traditionally includes the study of indoor thermal environment, indoor acoustic environment, indoor light environment, and indoor air quality *Built envi ...

and outdoor championships. Donkova set four 100 m hurdles world records in 1986. Her fifth world record, a time of 12.21 set in 1988, stood for almost 28 years until broken in 2016 by

Kendra Harrison Kendra "Keni" Harrison (born September 18, 1992) is an American hurdler. Harrison set the world record in the women's 100 metres hurdles with a time of 12.20 seconds on July 22, 2016 at the London Müller Anniversary Games, breaking the world re ...

. In total, Donkova has 16 medals from major athletics tournaments.

Personal life

Donkova suffered a childhood accident, which resulted in her losing two fingers on her right hand. She has three children. In 1991 she gave birth to a son called Zhivko Atanasov - professional football player, currently playing for

Levski Sofia Levski Sofia ( bg, Левски София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 ...

; twin girls Daniela and Desislava followed in 1996. After the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, Donkova received an offer to compete for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, but refused to change her national allegiance and continued to represent

Major achievements

Five-time Bulgarian National Champion at 100 m hurdles, 1980, 82, 84, 86 & 94. CR = Championship Record

World records

Donkova set five world records for the 100 metres hurdles: *12.36 sec - August 13, 1986 (equalling the record of

Grażyna Rabsztyn Grażyna Józefa Rabsztyn (; born September 20, 1952 in Wrocław) is a retired Polish hurdler. She represented her country at the Summer Olympics on three occasions (1972–1980) and was a finalist each time (twice placing fifth). Rabsztyn set ...

) *12.35 sec - August 17, 1986 *12.29 sec - August 17, 1986 *12.26 sec - September 7, 1986 *12.21 sec - August 20, 1988 (the world record stood until July 22, 2016)

References

Bibliography

External links

*
Y. Donkova - Olympic record 12:38 , Seoul 1988 г. , videoYouTube video

Y. Donkova - Olympic games 3td place , Barselona 1992 г. , video

Y. Donkova improve world record four times in 1986 , video

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donkova, Yordanka 1961 births Living people Bulgarian female hurdlers People from Sofia City Province Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics World record setters in athletics (track and field) Olympic athletes for Bulgaria Olympic gold medalists for Bulgaria Olympic bronze medalists for Bulgaria European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Goodwill Games medalists in athletics World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games Friendship Games medalists in athletics