In her childhood in Bulgaria Emilia practised artistic gymnastics and later rhythmic gymnastics. She studied at the
National Sports Academy, specializing in rhythmic gymnastics. She trained in this discipline in her home country from 1965 to 1982. She moved to Spain on 16 April 1982 to become the head coach of the Spanish team. From April 1982 to 1992 she coached both individuals and the group, then she worked only with individuals for the
1993 World Championship, and then again with both from March 1994 to December 1996, when she was replaced by
María Fernández. Emilia underwent heart surgery in November 1996, then she went back to Bulgaria to live in
Sofia. On 5 August 2000, some of the gymnastics members of the national team in the 1980s and 1990s participated in a homage for Boneva during the
Spanish Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship celebrated in
Málaga, which was the Niñas de Oro performed an exercise created especially for the occasion that was inspired in the 5 hoops of 1996 and that they trained the previous weeks with the help of
Ana Bautista. Emilia traveled from Bulgaria to attend the event, being aware of the fact that many of her old pupils were to perform. The person responsible for organizing the reunion was Carlos Pérez, after the Niñas de Oro continued to work on the idea. The next day they will return in
Manzanares el Real, this being the last time they meet again with Emilia. In 2006, Boneva participated in the documentary "Las Niñas de Oro" through a telephone call from Bulgaria in which she could talk again with the Olympic champions of
Atlanta and which was recorded and included in the final montage of the same. In October 2008 she traveled to Madrid to accompany my compatriot
Efrossina Angelova on her presentation as the new national head coach. In July 2015,
Almudena Cid met again with Emilia in Bulgaria, when the gymnast shared on the web. On 23 July 2016, she participated, with a message recorded in her home in Bulgaria, in the Gala 20th Anniversary of the gold medal in Atlanta '96, which took place in the Palacio de Congresos de
Badajoz and which he reunited with Niñas de Oro. In September 2018 several ex-gymnasts of the Spanish national team travelled to the
World Championships in Sofia to meet again with Emilia, also organizing a home dinner in her honour. The gymnasts who attended the homecoming were
Natalia Marín,
Vanesa Muñiz,
Lorea Elso,
Bito Fuster,
Montse Martín,
Gemma Royo,
Nuria Cabanillas,
Estíbaliz Martínez,
Maider Esparza,
Ana Bautista,
Carmen Acedo,
Carolina Pascual,
Rosabel Espinosa and
Mónica Ferrández. After her death, which took place on 20 September 2019, 70 former national gymnasts gathered to pay tribute to her during the
Euskalgym held on 16 November 2019, the event took place before 8,500 attendees at the
Bilbao Exhibition Center de
Baracaldo and was followed by a dinner in her honor. From 20 to 22 May 2022, the 1st International Slavia Cup Tournament was held in Sofia, created in honor of Emilia Boneva by Club Slavia, the team that she coached from 1968 to 1982. == Legacy and influence ==