Stefan Botev
Stefan Khristov Botev was an Olympic weightlifter for Bulgaria and later for Australia. He was coached by Ivan Abadzhiev.
Botev was originally intended to represent Bulgaria at the 1988 Olympic Games in the heavyweight category. 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. Mitko Grablev & Angel Guenchev were both disqualified after they tested positive for Furosemide. At the time, Botev was two-time European Vice-champion, and a heavy favorite for the gold medal.
In 2007 he was elected member of the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame.Weightlifting achievements
