Milen Dobrev
Personal information
NationalityBulgarian
Born(1980-02-22)February 22, 1980
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
DiedMarch 21, 2015(2015-03-21) (aged 35)
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight94 kg (207 lb)
Sport
CountryBulgaria
SportWeightlifting
Event–94 kg
ClubOlimp, Plovdiv
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
  • Snatch: 187.5 kg (2004)
  • Clean & Jerk: 222.5 kg (2003)
  • Total: 407.5 kg (2004)
Medal record
Representing  Bulgaria
Men’s Weightlifting
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place2004 Athens–94 kg
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2003 Vancouver–94 kg
Silver medal – second place2002 Warsaw–94 kg
Bronze medal – third place2001 Antalya–85 kg
Bronze medal – third place2005 Doha–94 kg
European Championships
Gold medal – first place2003 Loutraki–94 kg
Gold medal – first place2004 Kyiv–94 kg
Silver medal – second place2002 Antalya–94 kg
Goodwill Games
Gold medal – first place2001 Brisbane–85 kg
Junior World Championships
Silver medal – second place2000 Prague–85 kg
European Youth Championships
Bronze medal – third place1996 Burgas–70 kg

Milen Dobrev (Bulgarian: Милен Добрев, February 22, 1980 — March 21, 2015) was a Bulgarian weightlifter. He became Olympic champion in 2004 in the middle heavyweight class. That same year, he won the European Championship in Kyiv. Dobrev died of a heart attack in his home in Plovdiv in 2015. He is the first Bulgarian to win an Olympic title in weightlifting as a member of a team from Plovdiv (Maritsa-Olimp). After winning the 2001 Brisbane Goodwill Games in Australia, he established himself as the elite of weightlifters. His world title was from Vancouver, Canada, in 2003. He also became European champion in 2003 in Loutraki, Greece, and in 2004 in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Dobrev started training weightlifting in 1991 under the coach Georgi Yotovski, when he was in sixth grade at the Vasil Levski Sports School and competed for the team of Maritsa. During his military service (1999 – 2000), he was part of the team of CSKA. After 2001 Dobrev transferred to the team of Maritsa-Olimp and started training under Krastyo Milev. He became part of the extended men’s national team on 11.02.2001 and made his debut at the European Men’s Championship in Trencin, Slovakia. In 2001 he also made a debut at the 2001 World Championship in Antalya, Turkey, winning his first bronze medal in the 85 kg category. In 2002 he won silver medal at the European Championship in Antalya, Turkey, in the 94 kg category. The same year, Dobrev also became second at the World Championship in Warsaw, Poland.

Milen Dobrev has been an honorary citizen of Plovdiv since 2004. On 20.04.2005 at a ceremony in the Greek Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria, he was also named honorary citizen of Athens, Greece.[1][2][3]

Major Results

Year Venue Weight Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total Rank
1 2 3 Rank 1 2 3 Rank
Representing  Bulgaria
Olympic Games
2004Greece Athens, Greece94 kg180.0185.0187.51217.5220.0225.01407.51st place, gold medalist(s)
World Championships
2006Dominican Republic Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic94 kg170170170———————
2005Qatar Doha, Qatar94 kg17617618042102152183rd place, bronze medalist(s)3983rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2003Canada Vancouver, Canada94 kg180.0185.0187.51st place, gold medalist(s)220.0220.0222.52nd place, silver medalist(s)405.01st place, gold medalist(s)
2002Poland Warsaw, Poland94 kg175.0175.0177.53rd place, bronze medalist(s)212.5220.0220.02nd place, silver medalist(s)387.52nd place, silver medalist(s)
2001Turkey Antalya, Turkey85 kg165.0170.0175.03rd place, bronze medalist(s)195.0207.5212.54382.53rd place, bronze medalist(s)
European Championships
2004Ukraine Kyiv, Ukraine94 kg180.0182.5185.01st place, gold medalist(s)215.0217.5—1st place, gold medalist(s)402.51st place, gold medalist(s)
2003Greece Loutraki, Greece94 kg175.0180.0182.51st place, gold medalist(s)215.0217.5222.51st place, gold medalist(s)405.01st place, gold medalist(s)
2002Turkey Antalya, Turkey94 kg175.0180.0182.52nd place, silver medalist(s)210.0215.0217.52nd place, silver medalist(s)397.52nd place, silver medalist(s)
2001Slovakia Trenčín, Slovakia85 kg162.5167.5170.03rd place, bronze medalist(s)200.0202.5202.5———

References

  1. ↑ Profile: "Milen Dobrev" Archived 2007-02-16 at the Wayback Machine– databaseOlympics.com (Retrieved on December 31, 2007)
  2. ↑ "Olympic Games Medallists – Weightlifting" – (Retrieved on December 31, 2007)
  3. ↑ "Milen Dobrev: Olympic champion weightlifter dies, aged 35". BBC. 21 March 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2015.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.