Sonia Radeva
{{short description|Bulgarian figure skater}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox figure skater
|name= Sonia Radeva
|image=
|imagesize=
|caption=
|native_name= Соня Радева
|native_name_lang= bg
|fullname=
|altname=
|country= Bulgaria
|birth_date= {{birth date and age|1985|3|11|df=y}}
|height= {{height|m=1.68}}
|skating club= SC Elit Sofia
|beganskating= 1990
|retired= 2011
|birth_place=Sofia, Bulgarian People's Republic}}
Sonia Radeva ({{langx|bg|Соня Радева}}, born 11 March 1985 in Sofia) is a Bulgarian former competitive figure skater. She is a seven-time consecutive Bulgarian national champion (2003–2009) and reached the free skate at two ISU Championships – the 2005 European Championships in Turin, Italy, and the 2006 European Championships in Lyon, France.
Biography
Radeva began skating at age 4 after she went to the rink with her mother and sister.{{Cite web |last=Ivanova |first=Miglena |date=2020-10-19 |title=Соня Радева и нейните истории с кънки върху лед |trans-title=Sonia Radeva and her ice skating stories |url=https://bnr.bg/radiobulgaria/post/101359055/sona-radeva-i-neinite-istorii-s-kanki-varhu-led |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=Bulgarian National Radio |language=bg}} She won seven consecutive national titles from 2003 to 2009 and came second at the Bulgarian Championships in the 2010–2011 season behind Hristina Vassileva.{{Cite web |last= |date=2011-04-03 |title=Възпитаник на Денкова и Стависки спечели републиканското по фигурно пързаляне |trans-title=A graduate of Denkova and Staviski won the national figure skating championship |url=https://topsport.bg/sport/vazpitanik-na-denkova-i-staviski-specheli-republikanskoto-po-figurno-parzalyane.html |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=Topsport |language=bulgarian}}
During her career, Radeva worked as a caterer and then as a children's coach to pay for skating costs.{{Cite web |date=2010-01-13 |title=Соня на Евро`2010 със счупени кънки, шие си костюма сама |trans-title=Sunshine at Euro 2010 with broken skates, sews her own costume |url=https://gong.bg/oshte-sport/zimni-sportove/sonia-na-evro2010-sys-schupeni-kynki-shie-si-kostiuma-sama-112980 |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=Gong.bg |language=bg}}
In 2006, Radeva made her only appearance on the Grand Prix series when she competed at the 2006 Trophée Éric Bompard. There she placed 11th in the short program and moved up to 10th place overall after the free skate.{{Cite web |last= |date=2006-11-19 |title=Соня Радева 10-та при жените в Париж |trans-title=Sonia Radeva 10th in women in Paris |url=https://topsport.bg/sport/sonya-radeva-10-ta-pri-zhenite-v-parizh.html |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=Topsport |language=bulgarian}}{{Cite web |last= |date=2006-11-16 |title=Денкова и Стависки тренират в Париж на рождения ден на Максим |trans-title=Denkova and Staviski train in Paris on Maxim's birthday |url=https://topsport.bg/winter/denkova-i-staviski-trenirat-v-parizh-na-rozhdeniya-den-na-maksim.html |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=Topsport |language=bulgarian}}
In 2008, she injured her meniscus. Though she did not skate well at the Bulgarian Championships, she still won and was sent to the 2009 European Championships. The Bulgarian Skating Federation highlighted that they did not have many resources to assist and prepare athletes like Radeva.{{Cite web |last=Тошкова |first=Мариела |date=2009-01-13 |title=Трима чужденци в националния ни отбор по фигурно пързаляне |trans-title=Three foreigners in our national figure skating team |url=https://topsport.bg/winter/trima-chuzhdentsi-v-natsionalniya-ni-otbor-po-figurno-parzalyane.html |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=Topsport |language=bulgarian}}
Radeva herself later said that many athletes competing for Bulgaria trained outside of the country due to a lack of resources. For example, at the 2010 European Championships, Radeva wore skates that were four years old, had broken lace hooks, and were reinforced with duct tape, as she had waited six months to receive new skates, and on arrival they were defective. She reused a costume from the previous season that had been decorated by herself and her coach to save on costs. Radeva also said that the condition of the rink in Sofia where she trained was not very good.
The Bulgarian Skating Federation did not allow her or any other skaters to attempt to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympics as they did not believe any would be able to do so. Radeva said that the skaters had trained for the final qualifying event, the 2009 Nebelhorn Trophy, and that she was sad to have not been given the chance to go.
Radeva halted her competitive career due to a lack of pay in Bulgaria and began performing in skating shows on cruise ships. Between trips, she trains children at the Winter Sports Palace in Sofia.
Programs
Competitive highlights
GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" | |||||||||||||
| style="background-color: #ffdead; " colspan=14 align=center | International | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event
! {{tooltip|98–99|1998–1999}} ! {{tooltip|99–00|1999–2000}} ! {{tooltip|00–01|2000–2001}} ! 01–02 ! 02–03 ! 03–04 ! 04–05 ! 05–06 ! 06–07 ! 07–08 ! 08–09 ! 09–10 ! 10–11 | |||||||||||||
| align=left | Worlds | 32nd | 34th | 33rd | 41st | 41st | ||||||||
| align=left | Europeans | 27th | 22nd | 16th | 27th | 34th | 33rd | 40th | ||||||
| align=left | {{small|GP}} Bompard | 10th | ||||||||||||
| align=left | Nebelhorn Trophy | 10th | ||||||||||||
| align=left | Golden Spin of Zagreb | 15th | 8th | |||||||||||
| align=left | Cup of Nice | 9th | 14th | |||||||||||
| align=left | Crystal Skate | bgcolor=cc9966 | 3rd | 8th | 8th | 9th | |||||||||
| NRW Trophy
| | | | | | | | | | |15th | | | |||||||||||||
| align=left | Ondrej Nepela | 21st | 13th | |||||||||||
| align=left | Merano Cup | 9th | ||||||||||||
| Mont Blanc Trophy
| | | | | | | | | | | | |13th | |||||||||||||
| align=left | Helena Pajovic | 7th | ||||||||||||
| style="background-color: #ffdead; " colspan=14 align=center | International: Junior | |||||||||||||
| align=left | Junior Worlds | 39th | 39th | 29th | ||||||||||
| align=left | {{small|JGP}} Bulgaria | 20th | 15th | |||||||||||
| align=left | {{small|JGP}} Croatia | 15th | ||||||||||||
| align=left | Helena Pajovic | bgcolor=gold | 1st J | ||||||||||||
| align=left | Grand Prize SNP | 18th J | ||||||||||||
| style="background-color: #ffdead; " colspan=14 align=center | National | |||||||||||||
| align=left | Bulgarian | bgcolor=silver | 2nd | bgcolor=silver | 2nd | bgcolor=cc9966 | 3rd | bgcolor=gold | 1st | bgcolor=gold | 1st | bgcolor=gold | 1st | bgcolor=gold | 1st | bgcolor=gold | 1st | bgcolor=gold | 1st | bgcolor=gold | 1st | |||
| colspan=14 align=center | J = Junior level |
References
{{Reflist|2|refs=
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External links
- {{isu name | id=00003479 | name=Sonia Radeva}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Radeva, Sonia}}