Career
Despite being born in Bulgaria, Yanchulova trained most of her sporting career in San Diego, California, United States, playing for the University of San Diego"s volleyball team Yanchulova began her sporting career at the University of San Diego in San Diego, California, where she competed for the San Diego Toreros volleyball team Petia was named to the First Team All-American team (together with Misty May and Kerri Walsh) for two years in a row in 1998 and 1999.
The Bulgarian tandem also made their official debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where they both placed seventeenth in the women"s beach volleyball, defeating European bronze medalists Deborah and Rebekka_Kadijk along the way.
Four years later, at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, the Yanchulova sisters qualified for their second Olympics in the same tournament by obtaining their berth from the FIVB Grand Slam Series in Klagenfurt, Austria. This time, defeating the reigning European Champions of Germany in pool play, the sisters advanced to the Round of 16, eventually losing in a dramatic battle against eventual Olympic silver medalists of Brazil, Adriana_Behar and Shelda_Bede and placing 9th overall.