Stefan Khristov Botev (Bulgarian: Стефан Христов Ботев, born February 14, 1968, in Harmanli) is an Olympic weightlifter who represented Bulgaria and later competed for Australia. He was coached by Ivan Abadzhiev. Botev is a two-time world and European champion, winner of the World Cup in 1988 and was voted as Bulgaria's Sportsperson of the Year in 1990. Stefan is a two-time Olympic bronze medalist - once for Bulgaria in 1992 and once for Australia in 1996. Botev is a three-time gold medalist from the Goodwill Games in Seattle in 1990.
| 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 |
| IWF World Cup Winner | ||
|
1988 Athens | 110 kg |
| Goodwill Games | ||
|
1990 Seattle | 110 kg Total |
|
1990 Seattle | 110 kg Snatch |
|
1990 Seattle | 110 kg Clean and Jerk |
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 Total |
|
1994 Victoria | +108 kg Snatch |
|
1994 Victoria | +108 kg Clean and Jerk |
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. 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.[2]
Weightlifting achievements
edit- 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);
- Three-time gold medalist from the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle.
- 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
edit- 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.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b "Weight Lifting; An Olympic Dream Is Deferred". The New York Times. 22 April 1992.
- ^ "Weightlifting Hall of Fame". International Weightlifting Federation. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
- ^ "Stefan Botev". Lift Up. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
External links
edit- Stefan Botev at databaseOlympics.com at the Wayback Machine (archived 29 September 2007)
- Stefan Botev at WeightliftingExchange.com at the Wayback Machine (archived 30 September 2007)
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Stefan Botev". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.