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With new star Simona Peycheva, Bulgaria can finally return to the forefront of rhythmic gymnastics
SIMONA PEYCHEVA always wanted to be a gymnast. And growing up in Bulgaria, she had no shortage of rhythmic heroines to idolize. As she toiled in the gym from a young age, she dreamed of being a star in her own right. Nobody doubted her talent, but neither did anyone have the foresight to predict the changes that would mark the significance of her eventual world debut.
In 2001, Peycheva's triple bronze score at the world championships in Madrid ended a five-year world drought for the Bulgarian team.For the once-dominant Bulgarians, it was a long wait between Maria Petrova's 1996 medals and Peycheva's 2001 haul.
Though the Russians invented rhythmic gymnastics, it could be said that the Bulgarians perfected it to an art form - and during the 1970s and '80' supremacy of the sport was their reward. By the time Peycheva was born on May 14, 1985, the Bulgarian school was the cradle of the sport. That year, a Bulgarian trio swept the all-- around medals at the world championships for the third consecutive time (and they did it again in 1987).
When political reform swept through Eastern Europe in the early 1990s, the tide turned as socialist regimes began their dance with democracy. Governments were toppled - and so was the Bulgarian sports machine. Funding was drastically cut, and the country saw a mass exodus of its sought-after rhythmic coaches. And when the powerful Soviet Union dissolved, it divided itself into individually strong republics such as Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. As gymnasts from those three new nations began to battle one another, the Bulgarian medals dried up.
It was in that old Bulgarian system that Peycheva began the sport. As part of the talent selection procedure, coaches regularly visited kindergartens in search of children suited for a particular sport. Peycheva was initially selected to start with artistic gymnastics, and took to the gym immediately. Later, a rhythmic coach spotted Peycheva working out with the artistic group and proposed she switch sports. In the beginning, it was just fun, said Peycheva today.
"I've been in love with gymnastics since I was a kid," Peycheva told IG. "But when...