Maya Blagoeva was born in the small village of Kalenovtsi near the Serbian border. In addition to the 1972 Olympics in München, she competed at the 1970 and 1974 World Championships. In the 1970 Worlds she was ranked 12th with the team. She was also a seven-time Bulgarian Champion. Blagoeva later became a successful coach and brought several gymnasts to world-class level. She held a bachelor’s degree in physical education, and married Zarko Mitov, a former gymnast and long-time Bulgarian national coach, who coached the Bulgarian Olympic team in 1992. At the same Olympics, their daughter Silviya Mitova represented Bulgaria in women’s gymnastics. The family later moved to the United States and ran a gymnastics school in Pennsylvania.
Bulgaria