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2406-Ivanka Koleva photo

Ivanka Koleva

Bulgarian flag
Bulgaria
Athletics
1
1

Biography

Impairment information

Type of Impairment
Limb deficiency
Origin of Impairment
Congenital
Classification
F57

Further personal information

Languages
Bulgarian

Sport specific information

When and where did you begin this sport?
She took up Para athletics in 1985 in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria.
Why this sport?
She began the sport out of curiosity.

International debut

Year
1986
Competing for
Bulgaria

General interest

Memorable sporting achievement
Winning gold in shot put at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney. (Athlete, 23 Oct 2015)
Most influential person in career
Her first coach Georgy Sakelarov and the president of the Bulgarian Paralympic Association Ilia Lalov. (Athlete, 23 Oct 2015)
Hero / Idol
Bulgarian high jumper Stefka Kostadinova. (Athlete, 23 Oct 2015)
Awards and honours
She was Bulgaria's flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (myinfo.rio2016.com, 06 Sep 2016)

She was named the 2015 and 2016 Female Para Athlete of the Year in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. (infoz.bg, 17 Dec 2015; dariknews.bg, 22 Dec 2016)
Impairment
Her mother had a kidney problem during pregnancy and the medication she was given harmed the foetus. Koleva was born with impairments to her legs, and at age six had them amputated. (disabledsportsbg.com, 10 Apr 2015)

Results

Unit Date Rank
Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games (Barcelona, Spain)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Women's Shot Put THW7 Final Round 8
Women's Discus Throw THW7 Final Round 7
Women's Javelin THW7 Final Round 6
IPC Athletics World Championships Villeneuve d'Ascq 2002 (Villeneuve d'Ascq, France)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Women's Javelin F57-58 Final Round 8
Women's Shot Put F56-57 Final Round 4
Athens 2004 Paralympic Games (Athens, Greece)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Women's Shot Put F56-58 Final Round 6
Women's Discus Throw F56-58 Final Round 9
Women's Javelin F56-58 Final Round 11
IPC Athletics World Championships Assen 2006 (Assen, Netherlands)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Women's Shot Put F55/56/57 Final Round 4
Women's Discus Throw F57 Final Round 5
Women's Javelin F57/58 Final Round 6
Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games (Beijing, China)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Women's Shot Put F57/58 Final Round 6
Women's Discus Throw F57/58 Final Round 10
Women's Javelin F57/58 Final Round 8
Women's -67.5 kg Final Round 9999
Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games (Sydney, Australia)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Women's Javelin F58 Final Round 9
Women's Shot Put F57 Final Round 1
Women's Discus Throw F58 Final Round 13
Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games (Atlanta, United States of America)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Women's Marathon T52-53 Final Round 9999
Women's Shot Put F55-57 Final Round 6
Women's Discus Throw F55-57 Final Round 5
Women's Javelin F55-57 Final Round 7
IPC Athletics World Championships Birmingham 1998 (Birmingham, Great Britain)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Women's Shot Put F56/57 Final Round 2
Women's Discus Throw F58 Final Round 7
Women's Javelin F56-58 Final Round 9
2011 IPC Athletics World Championships (Christchurch, New Zealand)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Women's Shot Put F57/58 Final 2011-01-23 5
Women's Javelin F57/58 Final 2011-01-25 9
Women's Discus Throw F57/58 Final 2011-01-29 9
London 2012 Paralympic Games (London, Great Britain)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Women's Discus Throw F57/58 Final Round 2012-09-04 8
Women's Javelin F57/58 Final Round 2012-09-06 16
Women's Shot Put F57/58 Final Round 2012-09-08 9
IPC Athletics World Championships (Lyon, France)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Women's Shot Put F55-57 Final 1 2013-07-21 5
Women's Discus Throw F57/58 Final 1 2013-07-27 10
IPC Athletics 2015 World Championships (Doha, Qatar)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Women's Shot Put F57 Final 1 2015-10-23 6
Women's Discus Throw F57 Final 1 2015-10-27 9
Rio 2016 Paralympic Games (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Women's Shot Put F57 Final Round 2016-09-08 6
Women's Discus Throw F57 Final Round 2016-09-15 10
World Para Athletics Championships London 2017 (London, Great Britain)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Women's Discus Throw F57 Final 1 2017-07-15 11
Women's Shot Put F57 Final 1 2017-07-23 5