Stefka Kostadinova is a famous BG athlete. She was born on March 25th, 1965 in Plovdiv. She has gradiated from the Plovdiv School of Sports, initially starting a career of gymnastics and swimming. Her victorious career of the worlds best high jumper athlete was prepared by the young coach Nikolay Petrov, whom she later married in 1989.
Stefka Kostadinova was a high jump Olympic Champion from Atlanta, 1996, and a silver medal winner from Seoul, 1988.
A double world outdoor champion - Rome, 1987 and Gotteborg, 1995. She has participated in five world inddor championships - Paris 1985, Indianapolis 1987 (setting a World Indoor Record of 205 cm), Budapest 1989, Toronto 1993 and Paris 1997, and won champions titles in all five of them - an achievement never reached by an athlete before! She has set 3 outdoor and 4 indoor records altogether. Her high jump world record (August 30, 1987) from the 1987 World Athletics Championship in Rome, Italy - 2.09 m. (6 ft. 10.25 in) has remained unbeaten yet!
Stefka is a European outdoor champion from Stutgard, 1986, and four-time indoor champion - Athens 1985, Lievenne 1987, Budapest 1988 and Paris 1994.
She has been appointed the Sportsman of the Year of Bulgaria for four times (which also is a record!) - 1985, 1987, 1995 and 1996, and the Sportsman of the Balkans for five times! She is also included in the Top 10 of the Twentiewth Century Female Athletes, according to the International Athletics Federation.
She gave birth to her son Nikolay in 1995, and in 1999 she divorsed her husband and coach Nikolay Petrov. The same year she officially retired from her active sports career, and got appointed the vice-president of Bulgarian Athletics Federation.