Diana Popova

Diana Popova (born December 10, 1976, in Sofia, Bulgaria) is an Individual Rhythmic Gymnast.

Diana Popova
Personal information
Country represented	Bulgaria
Born	(1976-12-10) December 10, 1976 Sofia, Bulgaria
Discipline	Rhythmic gymnastics
Head coach(es)	Neshka Robeva
Assistant coach(es)	Krasimira Filipova
Retired	1997
Medal record Representing Bulgaria Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships 1995 Vienna Team 1992 Brussels Clubs 1996 Budapest Rope European Championships 1992 Stuttgart Team 1994 Thessaloniki Rope 1994 Thessaloniki Team 1996 Asker Rope 1996 Asker Ribbon 1996 Asker Team Summer Universiade 1995 Fukuoka Rope 1995 Fukuoka Ball 1995 Fukuoka Clubs 1995 Fukuoka Ribbon 1995 Fukuoka All-around Junior European Championships 1991 Cascais Hoop 1991 Cascais Ribbon 1991 Cascais All-around 1991 Cascais Team

Career

She started rhythmic gymnastics in 1982 and started training at an early age.

Popova competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics, Despite two drops of the clubs, she finished 7th in the all-around. In 1993, Popova made a brief retirement, citing exhaustion but returned to competition shortly after in 1994. She had a good comeback finishing 8th in 1994 and 7th in 1995 at the World Championships, she also took home 5 medals (including the all-around bronze) at that year's World University Games. She also won three bronze medals at the 1996 European Championships in Team, Rope and Ribbon. She competed in her second Olympics in 1996, but a couple of small mistakes in the semifinal round dropped Popova to 11th place and denied her the chance to compete in her second Olympic final.

After her retirement in 1996, Popova married the son of famed Bulgarian coach Julieta Shishmanova. Popova has since relocated to Italy, where she accepted a coaching position with the national team.

External links

• Diana Popova at the International Gymnastics Federation