On 14 June 2005, Lalova's career was interrupted when she broke her right femur after a collision with another athlete while warming up for the 100m sprint at the Athens Super Grand Prix.

[4][5] In June 2006, the Bulgarian Olympic Committee awarded her the IOC "Sports and Fair Play" prize for her conduct in the aftermath of the incident, when she declined to seek compensation from her fellow competitor or the event's organizers.

[7] In August 2007 she reached the quarterfinals of the women's 100m sprint at the IAAF World Championship in Osaka but failed to progress, finishing in fifth place with a time of 11.33 seconds.

She went on to win her heat in the semifinals, as well as the final on 28 June, beating Olesya Povh and Lina Grinčikaitė for her second career gold medal from a major championship.

In her first 2013 IAAF Diamond League appearance, Lalova finished third in the 200m sprint at the Golden Gala in Rome, with a personal season-best time of 22.78 (+1.2 m/s).

[14] At the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing Lalova recorded a season best 11.09 in the 100 metre qualifiers, but failed to pass the semifinal stage.

In the first 200 m event of the 2016 IAAF Diamond League, the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, Lalova reached the final, placing 4th with a time of 23.04.

[16] Lalova then participated in her second Diamond League event of the year, the 2016 Golden Gala in Rome, finishing 4th in the 100 m final with a time of 11.15.

[17] On 6 June she won the Women's 100 m at the 2016 Gala Dei Castelli in Bellinzona, Switzerland, setting a time of 11.19 in the semi-final, and 11.20 in the final itself.

Lalova opened her 2017 season by winning both the Women's 100 and 200 metres events at the Golden Grand Prix in Kawasaki, the third round of that year's IAAF World Challenge.