Stefan Botev

Stefan Khristov Botev (Bulgarian: Стефан Христов Ботев, born February 14, 1968 in Harmanli) was an Olympic weightlifter for Bulgaria and later for Australia. He was coached by Ivan Abadzhiev.

Stefan Botev
Medal record
Men's weightlifting
Representing  Bulgaria
Olympic Games
1992 Barcelona -110 kg
World Championships
1989 Athens 110 kg
1990 Budapest 110 kg
European Championships
1987 Reims 110 kg
1988 Cardiff 110 kg
1989 Athens 110 kg
1990 Aalborg 110 kg
World Cup Overall Winner
1988 Athens 110 kg
Goodwill Games
1990 Seattle 110 kg
Representing  Australia
Olympic Games
1996 Atlanta +108 kg
World Championships
1993 Melbourne 108 kg
1994 Istanbul +108 kg
1995 Guangzhou +108 kg
Commonwealth Games
1994 Victoria +108 kg

Botev was originally intended to represent Bulgaria at the 1988 Olympic Games in the heavyweight category.[1] Two of his teammates who had won gold medals in their weight classes tested positive for banned substances, and the Bulgarian weightlifting federation pulled the rest of the team out of the competition the day before Botev was scheduled to compete.[1] Mitko Grablev (56 kg) & Angel Guenchev (67.5 kg) were both disqualified after they tested positive for Furosemide.[2] At the time, Botev was two-time European Vice-champion, and a heavy favorite for the gold medal.[1]

In 2007 he was elected member of the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame.[3]

Weightlifting achievements
  • Bronze medalist in Olympic Games (1992 and 1996);
  • Gold medalist in Senior World Championships (1989 and 1990);
  • Silver medalist in Senior World Championships (1993);
  • Bronze medalist in Senior World Championships (1994 and 1995);
  • Senior European champion (1989 and 1990);
  • Silver medalist in Senior European Championships (1987 and 1988);
  • Gold medalist in Commonwealth Games (1994);
  • Set seven world records during his career;
  • Junior world record holder in clean and jerk and total (1972–1992).

Career bests
  • Snatch: 200.0 kg 1990 in Budapest in the class to 110 kg.
  • Clean and jerk: 250.0 kg 1988 in Varna in the class to 110 kg.
  • Total: 445.0 (195.0+250.0) in the class to 110 kg.
  • Total: 450.0 kg (200.0+250.0) 1996 Summer Olympics in the class over 108 kg.[4]

References
  1. "Weight Lifting; An Olympic Dream Is Deferred". The New York Times. 22 April 1992.
  2. "THE SEOUL OLYMPICS: Weight Lifting; Team Lifted After 2d Drug Test Is Failed". The New York Times. 24 September 1988.
  3. "Weightlifting Hall of Fame". International Weightlifting Federation. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
  4. "Stefan Botev". Lift Up. Retrieved 27 July 2009.


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