Background
Elizabeth Koleva was born on November 11, 1972 in the city of Sofia.
Elizabeth Koleva was born on November 11, 1972 in the city of Sofia.
Elizabeth began her sports career and gymnastics at club Slavia. She was one of the Golden Girls of Bulgaria that dominated Rhythmic Gymnastics in 1980"son Koleva retired early at only 16 years old.
She later became a coach at her home club Slavia.
Koleva had good results as a junior, At the 1987 European Junior Championships she won the All-around title, as well as the gold medal in all four apparatus (rope, hoop, ball, ribbon) and achieved a maximum score of 40.00 points. She advanced to Senior the following year and at the 1987 World Championships Koleva tied with teammate Adriana Dunavska for the silver medal in the all-around, she also won a bronze medal at the Ribbon finals. In 1988, Koleva tied with teammate Dunavska and Soviet gymnast Alexandra Timoshenko for the gold at the European Championships, where she was also won a gold medal in rope and bronze in clubs final.