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Bulgaria’s Boryana Kaleyn makes history as she wins Olympic silver in rhythmic gymnastics

Boryana Kaleyn (L) with Olympic champion Darja Varfolomeev (Germany) and bronze medalist Sofia Raffaeli (Italy)
Photo: EPA/BGNES

With four magnificent routines with the hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon, Boryana Kaleyn earned the silver medal at the Olympic Games in Paris. The last time Bulgaria won a medal in individual rhythmic gymnastics was in 1988 when Adriana Dunavska won the silver in Seoul. The only gymnast who performed better than Kaleyn was the current world champion Darja Varfolomeev who, with a total of 142.850 points, came ahead of the Bulgarian contestant by 2.250 points.

Boryana qualified for the final as she scored the third result from the qualifications (136.450 points), just 2.650 short of the No 1 position earned by Italy’s Sofia Raffaeli.

Boryana Kaleyn is absolute European champion from Baku 2023, after which she topped the prestigious European Gymnastics Female Gymnast of the Year 2023 standings by a wide margin for the second time, the first time being in 2021.



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