Elitsa Yankova
Elitsa Atanasova Yankova (Bulgarian: Елица Атанасова Янкова, 18 September 1994) is a Bulgarian freestyle wrestler. She participated in the 48 kg competition in 2016 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal. This became the first 2016 Olympics medal for Bulgaria.
Yankova (green) against Mariya Stadnik during the 2016 Summer Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 18 September 1994 (age 29) Varna, Bulgaria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 153 cm (5.02 ft) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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As an adolescent, Yankova had ambitions for short-distance running in track and field, but later switched to freestyle wrestling. Her father, Atanas Yankov, is a former Greco-Roman wrestler.
In 2009, Yankova, though she failed to secure a spot at the European Championships, was noticed by coach Petar Kasabov, who convinced her to start training under him with the Levski sports club. In 2013, she became a junior world champion. She also holds a number of national titles. In 2015, Yankova damaged her spine, but recovered and returned to wrestling.
Yankova's hobby is folk dancing. She is a student at the South-West University.