Ekaterina Dafovska (born 28 November 1975 in Chepelare

Chepelare

Chepelare is a town and ski resort in Smolyan Province in Southern Bulgaria. It is situated in the central part of the Rhodopes, on the banks of Chepelare River. Chepelare is a popular winter resort with one of the longest ski runs in Southeastern Europe. It is located near Pamporovo, one of the...

) is a Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

n biathlete

Biathlon

Biathlon is a term used to describe any sporting event made up of two disciplines. However, biathlon usually refers specifically to the winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting...

. At the age of 15 years she signed up in the sports club of her hometown, where she went in for biathlon. She won a gold Olympic medal at the 15 km Individual event during the 1998 Winter Olympics

1998 Winter Olympics

The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participans contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues. The games saw the introduction of Women's ice...

 in Nagano. Her gold medal was the first ever won by a Bulgarian at a Winter Olympic games.

Top Achievements:

1995 – Bronze in the World Championship in Media:Antholz-Anterselva, Italy

1997 – Bronze in the World Championship in Brezno-Osrblie, Slovakia

1998 – Gold in the Olympic games in Nagano, Japan

2002 – Fifth place in the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, USA

2004 – Gold in the European Championship in Minsk, Belarus

2006 – Eight in the Olympic games in Torino, Italy