She was born in Sliven, and represented the clubs Sliven, Levski-Spartak Club and Tundzha Yambol during her career. She won the bronze medal in the 800 metres at the 1975 European Indoor Championships, losing out to the silver medalist by only 0.1 seconds. The next year she won the bronze medal in 1500 metres at the 1976 European Indoor Championships. She was only 0.1 seconds behind the silver medalist Natalia Marasescu, but beat the fourth placer with a full six seconds. She competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics without reaching the final. In round one, only the top four runners in each of the initial heats progressed, and Pekhlivanova finished sixth in her heat with 4:13.11 minutes.