Viktoria Angelova is the new “Rising Star of Europe“ in girls' athletics. The Bulgarian athlete received the award at a gala evening in Lausanne, Switzerland, after a season with a European and world title in the triple jump.
Earlier this year, Angelova also won the “Rising Star of the Balkans“ award for 2026. She is preparing under the guidance of Georgi Pomashki.
Title in Rieti and gold in Oregon
Angelova triumphed at the European Championship for girls under 18 in Rieti with a personal best of 13.98 meters. This was only her fifth competition in the discipline.
After the European success, the Bulgarian also won the world title among girls under 20 in Oregon. She reached the first place with her last attempt.
Thus, within one season, Angelova collected titles from the two major forums in different age categories, and her achievements put her at the forefront of the race for the European award “Rising Star of Europe“.
She overtook champions from the Czech Republic and Slovenia
Victoria Angelova won the vote ahead of Linda Botkova from the Czech Republic and Ziva Remich from Slovenia. Botkova also won European and world gold during the season, but in the 400-meter hurdles. The Czech also broke the 43-year-old European record in the women's under-20 event.
Remich became the European under-18 champion and the world under-20 champion in the 800m.
Bulgaria also had a finalist in last year's junior edition. Bozhidar Saraboyukov was among the three candidates after his European title in the men's indoor long jump and the medal at the continental forum under-23.