Bulgarian athlete Ivet Lalova: biography, achievements and interesting facts

The incredible story of the famous sportswoman Ivet Lalova shows humanity that one must never give up. Even the terrible trauma did not interrupt the girl's career and did not prevent her from becoming a world champion.

Biography of the sportswoman

Bulgarian athlete Ivet Lalova was born on May 18, 1984 in Sofia, her height is 1 m 68 cm, weight - 56 kg. The girl grew up in a family of athletes. My father, Miroslav Lalov, was a sprinter, participated in short-distance races. In 1966, he won the Bulgarian title. Mother athletes, Lily, also engaged in athletics at a professional level.

In her childhood, Iveta Lalova attended swimming and gymnastics training. But soon the girl went in the footsteps of her parents and started athletics. The first coach of the sportswoman was Konstantin Milanov, who was a successful and well-known coach in Bulgaria. It was he who saw and revealed the potential of Ivet.

The girl had a great desire for sporting achievements, she was ready to work hard and develop. The Bulgarian athlete liked to run a hundred-meter high, but the coach revealed her ability to run for a distance of 200 m.

Start of career Ivet Lalova

In just a couple of years of training under the guidance of Konstantin Milanov, the athlete was able to achieve incredible success in the career of an athlete. She took part in high-level competitions and occupied prestigious places.

In 2001 in the list of athletes at the Youth World Championships in Hungary for the first time appeared the name of Ivet Lalova. Athletics was already an integral part of her life for the girl. The young beauty wanted recognition and victories, at the debut competitions she reached the semifinals.

Next, the athlete participated in the World Junior Championships in Jamaica in 2002, where she ran a hundred-meter mark with a score of 11.83. And a year later she won first place in the 200 m race at the European Championships 2003 in Finland.

At the age of twenty, Ivet Lalova took part in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. At competitions of the international level she took the 4th and 5th place in sprints for 100 and 200 meters respectively. In 2004, the athlete appeared on the treadmill at the World Athletics Final in Monte Carlo (Monaco). Twelve years ago she took the 7th place at 100 and 200 meters. And a year later the girl won gold at the European indoor championships in Madrid (Spain).

Forced break in the career of the Bulgarian athlete

In 2005 Ivet Lalova was supposed to perform at the World Championships in Helsinki. The athlete was looking forward to these competitions. And she was completely ready for them. All of Bulgaria followed the career of a track and field athlete and knew exactly what Ivet Lalova is capable of. Injury received by the athlete on a routine warm-up did not allow the girl to take part in the Championship-2005. During the run, the runner collided with one of the athletes and broke her right thigh.

Ivet immediately hospitalized, in her leg doctors inserted a 36-centimeter pin, with which she lived a long 3 years. The girl was in a wheelchair and spent two whole months in it. All the dreams of victory fell. The Bulgarian athlete watched the Championship on TV in a hospital bed.

Long rehabilitation course for athletes

For three years Ivet Lalova underwent treatment. It was a long and difficult process of rehabilitation and rehabilitation, both physically and psychologically. Doctors gave disappointing predictions. Some doctors predicted an end to the professional career of athletes.

But Ivet is a fighter, she did not give up. In 2007, after a successful operation, the girl began to restore her physical form. The athlete returned to training and performed at the World Championships in Japan. Of course, she could not run so fast as before, so she only got into the quarter-finals with a result of 11.33 in the 100m race.

Continuation of a successful career

From 2007 to 2011 Ivet Lalova failed to return the previous speed in any way. She trained to exhaustion. The girl continued to participate in all sorts of competitions. She performed at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing (China), at the World Championships in Doha (Qatar) in 2009 and in the open air in Berlin (Germany) in 2010.

In 2011, Iveta Lalova started working with the Italian coach Roberto Bonomi and moved to Rieti. Cooperation with the new mentor almost immediately brought good results. The Bulgarian athlete performed at the 13th World Championships in Athletics in Daegu (South Korea). Ivet became the only European runner who reached the finals. It was here that she showed incredible speed and finished the season with an excellent result of 10.96 in the 100 meter race.

A year later, Ivet Lalova won the European Championships in Helsinki (Finland). She won a gold medal in the sprint for 100 meters, which she hung on a 36-centimeter pin on her window.

In 2016, the athlete took part in the same competition in Amsterdam (the Netherlands). And again an excellent result - silver in the races of 100 and 200 meters. The British athlete bypassed the British runner Dinah Asher-Smith.

Ivet Lalova: personal life

In 2009, the Bulgarian athlete met with the famous Italian sprinter Simone Colly. Elected Ivet is five years older than her, he comes from the small town of Cernusco sul Naviglio. The athletes immediately began a romantic relationship. And it was Simone who proposed Ivet to move to Italy and become the trustee of his coach Roberto Bonomi.

September 21, 2013 the couple got married. Now the Bulgarian athlete is known as Lalova-Kollio Ivet. The wedding of the athletes took place in the church of San Domenico in Rieti. More than 200 people attended the ceremony. Among the guests were respected and well-known in the world of sports people - Andrew Howe and Dobromir Karamarinov, Massimiliano and Robotto Donati, Sandro Giovannelli and Emanuele Formichetti.

Now Ivet Lalova-Kollio lives in Italy with her husband. Spouses support each other, often train together. The couple have a very warm relationship.

The Bulgarian athlete in good physical and psychological shape, she completely recovered from a terrible injury and is ready for new achievements.