Topic: News: Bulgarian Weightlifter Busted for Steroids

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Bulgarian Weightlifter Busted For Doping

Bulgaria's weightlifter Rumyana Petkova has tested positive in a doping probe taken right before the European Championship, Andon Nikolov, head of the Bulgarian weightlifting federation announced.

He explained that the woman, who competes in the below 75kilos category, has tested positive for the banned substance stanozolol. The International Weightlifting Federation has alerted Nikolov of the positive "A" probe with a letter. No doubt the "B" probe would also show the same results and the athlete was guilty, the federation's head said.

Nikolov claimed that Petkova had personally decided to take the substance and no one knew of her decision. He seemed disappointed that "some people haven't learnt their lesson and continue doping".

Bulgaria had to eradicate this practice if there was any chance of sports surviving in this country, Nikolov said, adding that the weightlifting federation was even ready to do this at the price of lower results.

Nikolov explained that the problem for Bulgaria was that countries with three doping busts for a year might be kicked out of the Olympic games. Russia was a fine example, as its athletes were almost certainly going to skip the Olympics in Beijing, he said, adding that he wouldn't want Bulgaria to be one of these countries too.