Rumyana Neykova (; born 6 April 1973 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 rower, who competed at five Olympic Games.

Biography

Neykova competed at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

, the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, 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 ...

, where she won silver in the single sculls, 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 ...

, where she won bronze in the single sculls, and 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 ...

, where she won gold in the single sculls. Her current coach is her husband, Svilen Neykov. In 2002, she set the world best time of 7:07:41 in the women's single sculls and was named Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year (a title she earned again in 2008), as well as

FISA The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA, , ) is a United States federal law that establishes procedures for the surveillance and collection of foreign intelligence on domestic soil.

Female Rower of the Year. She was also named the BTA Best Balkan Athlete of the Year in 2007. Neykova has been involved in rowing since 1985, when she began training at

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ...

coached Verka Aleksieva. She won gold in the junior women's single sculls at the 1990 World Junior Championships. After several unsuccessful attempts with double sculls and quadruple sculls, she switched to the single sculls and won her first senior medal at the 1999 World Championships. She has two world titles in that discipline; in 2002 and 2003. At the 2005 World Championships, she competed in the double sculls, finishing second with Miglena Markova. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, she narrowly lost the Olympic title to Ekaterina Karsten of

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

photo finish A photo finish occurs in a sporting race when multiple competitors cross the finishing line at nearly the same time. As the naked eye may not be able to determine which of the competitors crossed the line first, a photo or video taken at the fini ...

. After the Olympics, she took a one-year break, giving birth to her son, Emil Neykov, who has also become a successful rower. In 2002, Neykova won the Princess Royal Challenge Cup (the premier women's singles sculls event) at the

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...

, rowing for the Club Academic and defeating

Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski ( Rutschow, born 2 April 1975 in Waren (Müritz)) is a German Rowing (sport), rower and two-time Summer Olympic Games, Olympic gold medalist. Biography In both 1994 and 1995 Rutschow won the world championships go ...

. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she finished third in the single sculls. In 2005, she won a second Princess Royal Challenge Cup but rowing for the Cherno More Club this time. Neykova won her first Olympic title at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neykova, Rumyana Living people 1973 births Rowers from Sofia Bulgarian female rowers Olympic rowers for Bulgaria Rowers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Bulgaria Olympic bronze medalists for Bulgaria Olympic silver medalists for Bulgaria Olympic medalists in rowing Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics World Rowing Championships medalists for Bulgaria European Rowing Championships medalists