Diana Popova

Diana Popova
Personal information
Country represented Bulgaria
Born (1976-12-10) December 10, 1976 (age 47)
Sofia, Bulgaria
DisciplineRhythmic gymnastics
Head coach(es)Neshka Robeva
Assistant coach(es)Krasimira Filipova
Retired1997
Medal record
Representing  Bulgaria
Rhythmic Gymnastics
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1995 Vienna Team
Bronze medal – third place 1992 Brussels Clubs
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Budapest Rope
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1992 Stuttgart Team
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Thessaloniki Rope
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Thessaloniki Team
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Asker Rope
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Asker Ribbon
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Asker Team
Summer Universiade
Silver medal – second place 1995 Fukuoka Rope
Silver medal – second place 1995 Fukuoka Ball
Silver medal – second place 1995 Fukuoka Clubs
Silver medal – second place 1995 Fukuoka Ribbon
Bronze medal – third place 1995 Fukuoka All-around
Junior European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1991 Cascais Hoop
Gold medal – first place 1991 Cascais Ribbon
Silver medal – second place 1991 Cascais All-around
Silver medal – second place 1991 Cascais Team

Diana Popova (Bulgarian: Диана Попова) (born December 10, 1976, in Sofia, Bulgaria) is an individual rhythmic gymnast.

Career

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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.

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