Born on 03.11.1950 in Plovdiv

Mariya Vergova-Petkova is the first Bulgarian female athlete to be ranked first in the world elite of the discus throwing discipline as a world record holder and is the only Bulgarian athlete to win two silver Olympic medals.

She started training athletics in 1967 with cannonball throwing and continued until 1971. In 1974, Mariya Vergova improved three national records of discus throwing and at the European Championship in Rome, Italy, ranked fourth. In the following 1975, she became a world student champion in discus throwing in Rome. Her first silver medal was at the 1976 Montreal Olympics in Canada – with 67.30 m. After four years at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games in Russia she won her second silver medal – with 67.98 m. In 1977 in Sofia, Bulgaria, she became a world student champion for the second time.

On 13.07.1980 at a State Championship at the Vasil Levski Stadium in Sofia, Vergova-Petkova set a new world record – 71.80 m.

Her successes continued: in 1981 she won a gold medal at the European Cup in Zagreb, Croatia – with 69.34 m, and was included in the European team for the World Cup in Rome, during which she took second place. Vergova-Petova won a silver medal at the 1982 Athens European Championship in Greece – with 67.94 m. In 1983, she took part in the first World Cup in Helsinki, Finland, and won a bronze medal – with 66.44 m. Mariya Vergova-Petkova improved the national record in discus throwing seven times and won 6 titles, as well as four championship titles at Balkan athletic games. Until 1976 she competed for the team of Trakiya Plovdiv under the coach Dimitar Bahchevanov, and after the Olympiad in Montreal she moved to the team of Levski-Spartak and prepared under the coach Vasil Krumov.

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