• Source: Rachel Stoyanov

      • Rachel Stoyanov (born March 14, 2003) is a retired Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast. She formerly represented North Macedonia in individual competition until 2021, when she joined the Bulgarian group.
      She is the 2022 World Group All-around champion, a two-time (2023, 2024) European Group All-around champion and a three-time (2022-2024) European Team champion.


      Career


      Of Bulgarian parents, she was born in the United States. She started practicing rhythmic gymnastics at the age of 4, when her mother took her to the Levski Club in Sofia, where Neshka Robeva trained her. Although she lived and trained in Bulgaria, she chose to represent North Macedonia as an individual rhythmic gymnast since junior.


      = Junior

      =
      She participated at the 2018 Junior European Championships in Guadalajara, Spain. She was 15th in the Individual All-Around competition, her best apparatus were Ball and Clubs (34th place).


      = Senior

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      2019


      In her first year in the senior category Rachel participated in the Ritam Cup, in Serbia, where she obtained bronze in the all around.
      Her first appearance in the senior category and in the FIG World Cup Series was the World Cup Pesaro.That same year she participated in Sofia and the Baku World Cups, and in the World Cup Challenge in Cluj-Napoca. She also participated in the 2019 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan where she become 42 in the All around. Rachel participated in her first world championship, the 2019 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, the same venue as the European one, where she was ranked 68th in the all around.


      2020


      In february, Rachel participated in the Irina Deleanu Cup in Bucharest, Romania, where she placed eighth in the all-around.
      Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rachel was unable to compete in the FIG World Cup series, which were cancelled. In October, she participated in the International RG Online Tournament in Moscow organized by Irina Viner where she obtained ninth place and the silver medal with the hoop. She also participated in the International Online Tournament of Julieta Shishmanova, where she obtained silver in the all around.
      At the end she participated in the 2020 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships in Kyiv, Ukraine where she obtained 16th place in the All Around


      2021


      Rachel achieved very good results in 2021, she participated in the 4 World Cups, the same ones that were postponed from 2020 due to the pandemic (and that served as a qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games) she participated in the Sofia World Cup in March, Tashkent (her best position) and Baku in April, and Pesaro in May.
      In June, Rachel participated in the 2021 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships in Varna, Bulgaria, where she made it to the top 24 all-around final and become the first gymnast from North Macedonia to do so. She also had the opportunity to fight for the last remaining place to enter the Olympic Games, the European continental square, was ranked 23rd in the final and did not obtain the square. She also won the prize "Rising star" .


      2022


      At the end of the 2021 season, Rachel was selected to compete with the Bulgarian group, led by Vesela Dimitrova and her assistant Mihaela Maevska. In February 2022, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) approved her change of nationality to represent Bulgaria and leave North Macedonia.
      Although the first competition of the Bulgarian group was in March, at the Grand Prix in Marbella, Rachel was selected to compete from the World Cup Challenge in Pamplona in May, where they obtained fourth place in the all-around, fifth in the 5-ring final and the silver medal in the mixed final, with 3 ribbons and 2 balls. In June they competed in the World Cup in Pesaro, where the Bulgarian group won the silver medal all around and the mixed final, also the bronze medal in the 5 hoops final. She was selected to compete at 2022 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships in Tel Aviv, Israel with the group along with Zhenina Trashlieva, Sofia Ivanova, Kamelia Petrova, Vaya Draganova and Margarita Vasileva, finishing 4th in the AA and 5-hoops final, and 6th in the mixed ending. The Bulgarian team also won the team gold, made up of the group and the individual Boryana Kaleyn and Stiliana Nikolova.
      They also participated in the last World Cup of the year in August and the last competition before the World Championship, the World Cup Challenge in Cluj-Napoca where the Bulgarian group won gold overall and in the 5 hoops and mixed final.
      In September 2022, Rachel along with the Bulgarian group consisting of Sofia Ivanova, Kamelia Petrova, Radina Tomova, Zhenina Trashlieva and Margarita Vasileva, participated in the 2022 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, where they won AA gold and in the mixed final and obtained the qualification to the Olympic Games in Paris 2024. Also, since 2014, Bulgaria has not won a World Championship together.


      2023


      In 2023 the group started in Marbella, where she won the All-Around as well as the gold medals in the finals with 5 hoops and with 2 balls and 3 ribbons. Later they won All-Around silver at the World Cup in Athens, they won gold in the same category two weeks later in Sofia. At the 2023 European Championships, held in Baku, she won gold medals in both Group All-around and Team competition. In 5 Hoops final, she won silver medal and placed 5th in 3 Ribbons + 2 Balls final.


      2024


      In March 2024 Rachel and the group were 5th in the All-Around and 6th with 2 balls and 3 ribbons at the World Cup in Athens. In April the girls won bronze in the All-Around and silver with 3 ribbons and 2 balls in Sofia. In June, Rachel and the group won gold medal in the All-around at the 2024 European Championships in Budapest, Hungary. They also won gold in Team event, together with Boryana Kaleyn, Elvira Krasnobaeva and Stiliana Nikolova. They placed 4th in 5 Hoops final and 8th in 3 Ribbons + 2 Balls final. In August she was selected for the Olympic Games in Paris, where Rachel, Kamelia Petrova, Sofia Ivanova, Margarita Vasileva and Magdalina Minevska, took 4th place in the final after making mistakes in the 5 hoops routine. In October it was announced that she made the decision to retired along Petrova, Vasileva and Minevska.


      References




      External links


      Rachel Stoyanov at the International Gymnastics Federation
      Rachel Stoyanov on Instagram

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