Irina Emilova Konstantinova-Bontemps (; born 10 July 1976 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 Bulgarian windsurfer, who specialized in Neil Pryde RS:X class. She represented

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 ...

in four editions of the Olympic Games (2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012), and has also placed outside the top ten in both Mistral and RS:X classes. In 2006, Konstantinova married French windsurfer, two-time world champion, and later 2008 Olympic silver medalist Julien Bontemps before she relocated to France, and trained for ASPTT Nantes. As of September 2013, Konstantinova is ranked no. 88 in the world for the sailboard class by the

International Sailing Federation International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

. Konstantinova made her official debut at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

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, where she placed twenty-fourth in women's Mistral sailboard with a net score of 193 points. At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

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, Konstantinova posted a remarkable grade of 152 to pull off a nineteenth-place effort in the same program. At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

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, Konstantinova narrowly missed out on the medal race by four points, as she finished twelfth overall in the newly introduced RS:X class with a net score of 101. Twelve years after competing in her first Olympics, Konstantinova qualified for her fourth Bulgarian team, as a 36-year-old, in the RS:X class at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

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by receiving a berth from the

ISAF Sailing World Championships The Sailing World Championships (formerly ISAF Sailing World Championships) are World championships in sailing for the 10 events contested at the Summer Olympics, organized by World Sailing (formerly ISAF) and held every four years since 2003. I ...

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. Delivering a mediocre effort in the opening races, Konstantinova dropped to twenty-second place overall in a fleet of twenty-six sailors with a net score of 180 points.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Konstantinova, Irina 1976 births Living people Bulgarian female sailors (sport) Bulgarian windsurfers Olympic sailors for Bulgaria Sailors at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Mistral One Design Sailors at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Mistral One Design Sailors at the 2008 Summer Olympics – RS:X Sailors at the 2012 Summer Olympics – RS:X Sportspeople from Sofia Female windsurfers Competitors at the 1999 Summer Universiade