Donka Mincheva (Донка Минчева, born in

Karlovo Karlovo ( bg, Карлово ) is a historically important town in central Bulgaria located in a fertile valley along the river Stryama at the southern foot of the Balkan Mountains. It is administratively part of Plovdiv Province and has a p ...

) is a Bulgarian former

weightlifter Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lift ...

, competing in the 48 kg category and representing Bulgaria at international competitions. She participated at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in the 48 kg event. She competed at world championships, most recently at the

2007 World Weightlifting Championships The Royal World Weightlifting Championships 2007 were held at the 700th Anniversary Sports Complex in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The event took place from September 17 to September 26, 2007. Medal summary Men Women Medal table Ranking by Big (Tot ...

. Mincheva was one of eleven Bulgarian weightlifters to test positive for a banned

steroid A steroid is a biologically active organic compound with four rings arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter membrane fluidity; and a ...

two months prior to the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. Bulgaria withdrew its entire weightlifting team from the Olympic competition and Mincheva was banned from competing for four years. She then gave up her passion for weightlifting and is now living on the low, dealing with an

alcohol addiction Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

Major results

References

External links

* 1973 births Living people Bulgarian female weightlifters Weightlifters at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic weightlifters for Bulgaria People from Karlovo World Weightlifting Championships medalists Doping cases in weightlifting 20th-century Bulgarian women 20th-century Bulgarian people 21st-century Bulgarian women 21st-century Bulgarian people {{Bulgaria-weightlifting-bio-stub