Elizabeth Koleva was born in the city of
Sofia and began gymnastics at club Slavia. She was one of the
Golden Girls of Bulgaria that dominated rhythmic gymnastics in the 1980s. As a member of the national team, she trained under
Neshka Robeva, and her personal coach was
Krassimira Filipova. At the
1987 European Junior Championships, Koleva won the all-around title, as well as the gold medal in all four apparatus finals (rope, hoop, ball, ribbon) and achieved a maximum score of 40.00 points. She also won a bronze medal in the ribbon final. but she was not one of the two Bulgarian entries, as Dunavska and Panova competed there instead. Koleva retired early at only 16 years old. She became a coach at her home club Slavia and then founded her own club in 2006. She is now a member of the management board of the Bulgarian rhythmic gymnastics federation. They have a son, Eric, who also plays volleyball, and a daughter, Martina. ==References==