| Kamelia Petrova | |
| Native Name: | Камелия Петрова |
| Birth Date: | 1 May 2006 |
| Birth Place: | Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Hometown: | Sofia |
| Discipline: | Rhythmic gymnastics |
| Level: | International Elite |
| Natlteam: | 2020-present |
| Club: | Levski |
| Headcoach: | Vesela Dimitrova |
| Assistcoach: | Mihaela Maevska |
| Formercoach: | Eva Gogova, Valentina Simeonova, Vyara Vatashka, Cvetelina Naydenova |
| Choreographer: | Margarita Budinova |
| Show-Medals: | yes |
Kamelia Petrova (Bulgarian: Камелия Петрова; born 1 May 2006) is a Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast. She is world champion in All-around with the Bulgarian team at the world championship 2022 in Sofia and world champion in final with 3 ribbons+2balls. She is the European all-around champion and team champion with the Bulgarian team in 2023 and 2024, as well as a silver medalist in the 5-hoop final. She was All-Around, 5 balls and 5 ribbons' silver medalist at the 2021 European Championship and she's the champion in the senior team competition at the 2022 European Championships.
She started practicing rhythmic gymnastics at the age of 6 along her sister encouraged by her mother, who's a former athlete. Kamelia's favorite school subject is maths. Her motto is "God loves the brave".[1]
She was selected for the 2020-2021 junior group, along Kristiana Doycheva, Suzan Pouladian, Maria Stamenova, Gergana Trendafilova and Aleksandra Vasileva. In February they competed at the 2021 Moscow Grand Prix, winning all the silver medals. [2] Followed by a bronze with 5 balls at the Deleanu cup.[3] In June the team won 3 silver medals, All-Around (for the first time in 20 years),[4] 5 balls and 5 ribbons at the 2021 Junior European Championships.[5]
In 2022, when the girls of the previous senior group retired after becoming Olympic champions, she became a starter in the two routines since the World Cup in Pesaro, where the group won silver in the All-Around and 3 ribbons + 2 balls and bronze with 5 hoops.[6] She also took part in the stages of Pamplona (bronze with 5 hoops and silver with 3 ribbons + 2 balls) and Cluji-Napoca (All-Around, 5 hoops and 3 ribbons + 2 balls gold).[7] In June she was part of the group for the European Championship in Tel Aviv, she won gold in the senior team category along with Vaya Draganova, Zhenina Trashlieva, Sofia Ivanova, Rachel Stoyanov, Margarita Vasileva and the individuals Boryana Kaleyn and Stiliana Nikolova.[8]
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.[9] 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.[10]
In March 2024 Kamelia and the group were 5th in the All-Around and 6th with 2 balls and 3 ribbons at the World Cup in Athens.[11] In April the girls won bronze in the All-Around and silver with 3 ribbons and 2 balls in Sofia.[12] In June, they 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.[13] In August she was selected for the Olympic Games in Paris, where Kamelia, Margarita Vasileva, Sofia Ivanova, Rachel Stoyanov and Magdalina Minevska, took 4th place in the final after making mistakes in the 5 hoops routine.[14]