Izabela Dragneva-Rifatova ( bg, Изабела Драгнева-Рифатова; born October 1, 1971, in

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

) is a retired

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 ...

from

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

, who is best known for being the first female weightlifter to be stripped of her medal and results and disqualified from an Olympic games for cheating. She twice competed for her native country at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

(the first year women's weightlifting was contested as an Olympic sport) and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. She won the silver medal in the women's – 53 kg division at the

1998 World Weightlifting Championships The 1998 World Weightlifting Championships were held in Lahti, Finland from November 10 to November 15, 1998. Medal summary Men Women Medal table Ranking by Big (Total result) medals Ranking by all medals: Big (Total result) and Small (Sn ...

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

. Dragneva competed in the 48 kg category 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 ...

where she originally won the gold medal. She was stripped of her gold medal three days later after she tested positive for the banned diuretic

furosemide Furosemide is a loop diuretic medication used to treat fluid build-up due to heart failure, liver scarring, or kidney disease. It may also be used for the treatment of high blood pressure. It can be taken by injection into a vein or by mouth ...

. Also, because multiple Bulgarian weightlifters tested positive in previous Olympic competitions, the entire Bulgarian weightlifting team was disqualified and sent home from the Games. The IWF cited their 'Three Strikes' rule for the disassociation. Dragneva's disqualification meant that American

Tara Nott Tara Nott-Cunningham (born Tara Nott, May 10, 1972) is an American former Olympic weightlifter who competed for the United States in both the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games. She is the only athlete to have trained for three different sports at the U ...

was awarded the gold medal in the 48 kg class.

References

* 1971 births Living people Bulgarian female weightlifters Weightlifters at the 2000 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic weightlifters for Bulgaria Bulgarian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in weightlifting Sportspeople from Varna, Bulgaria Competitors stripped of Summer Olympics medals European Weightlifting Championships medalists World Weightlifting Championships medalists 21st-century Bulgarian women 21st-century Bulgarian people {{Bulgaria-weightlifting-bio-stub

See also

References