Maria Grozdeva has so far been among the most successful Bulgarian athletes at Olympics Games, winning a staggering five Olympic medals in the past four games.
 
Maria was born in 1972 in Sofia, she is married to her coach Valeri Grigorov and has three children, Maria and Valeri are both officers in the Bulgarian Police. Maria first started shooting in 1983 aged 11 years old, where she began practicing shooting with the Sofia based ZSKA team. At fourteen she covered the ‘master of sports’ standard. Maria is a member of the National Team and has been competing for her country since 1987.
 
Maria won the gold medal at the 25m air pistol shooting at the 2004 Olympics in Athens , as well as the bronze in the 10m shooting competition . Grozdeva entered the 25 m final with a result of 585 five points, making a score of a 103.2, which is a new Olympic record. With a total of 688 points, Grozdeva defended her Olympic title in the discipline from Sydney 2000 Olympics.

Did you know?

• In 2004 Maria was voted Bulgarian Athlete of the Year, her Coach and husband Valeri was voted Coach of the Year.
• During the 24 year Maria has been shooting competitively she has won more than 80 medals from World Cups, European Championships and International Competitions, which equate to more than 30kg in weight!