Competition highlights
2009 European 25m Sport Pistol Champion
2008 ISSF World Cup Final 25m Sport Pistol / Bronze Medalist
2008 ISSF World Cup Rio de Janerio 25m Sport Pistol / Gold Medalist
Five Olympic medals / Athens 2004 Gold & Bronze (Olympic Record), Sydney 2000 Gold (Olympic Record), Atlanta 1996 Bronze, 1992 Barcelona Bronze
Current holder of the final world record in 25m Pistol
7 Gold medals from European Championships
17 Gold medals from ISSF World Cup events
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Date of Birth: 23 June 1972
Nationality: Bulgarian
Birthplace: Sofia
Discipline(s): 25m Pistol, 10m Air Pistol
Coach: Valeri Grigorov
Background
Current World Record holder and five times Olympic medalist in the past four games (Sports Pistol), Maria Grozdeva has so far been among the most successful Bulgarian athletes at the Olympic Games. Her outstanding track record and medal haul at the Olympic Games, European Championships and ISSF World Cup events has earned her the reputation as one of the best sports pistol shooters in the World. In 2009 she added the title of European Champion to her achievements in the Women’s 25m Sport Pistol event.
Maria Grozdeva has so far been among the most successful Bulgarian athletes at the Olympics Games, winning a staggering five Olympic medals in the past four games.
Maria was born in 1972 in Sofia, and is married to her coach Valeri Grigorov with 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 25m final with a result of 585 points, making a score of 103.2 - which is a new Olympic record. With a total of 688 points, Grozdeva defended her Olympic title in the discipline from the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
Did you know?
• In 2004 Maria was voted Bulgarian Athlete of the Year, with her Coach and husband Valeri voted Coach of the Year.
• During the 24 years 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!
• Maria was the runner up in the 2009 Big Brother television programme in Bulgaria.
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