Galabin Pepov Boevski (, born 19 December 1974) is a

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

weightlifter Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

. He was born in Knezha, and was both world and Olympic champion. He was later suspended for eight years after failing drug tests. Boevski was sentenced to nine years and four months in prison in Brazil for cocaine trafficking. He was arrested in October 2011 while trying to board a plane in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

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, to

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with 9 kilos of

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

. In October 2012, the appellate court of Brazil decided against reducing his sentence. On 23 October 2013, he returned to Bulgaria. Asked how, he did not comment. The Bulgarian government stated that the release was a unilateral act by Brazil and they do not know of any details. In October 2021 he was once again arrested for trafficking cocaine, this time in Portugal, where he lives with his family. After being sentenced to six and a half years, he was released early, on 2 July 2024.

Weightlifting career

Senior trophies

Galabin Boevski made his senior international weightlifting debut at World Championship in Lahti, Finland in 1998. He finished fourth in the total narrowly missing on a medal, but winning silver in the clean and jerk. The following year he became both European and World champion in the lightweight class up to 69 kg in La Coruna Spain and Athens, Greece. At the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

he won the gold medal in the lightweight class beating by 5 kg his teammate

Georgi Markov Georgi Ivanov Markov ( ; 1 March 1929 – 11 September 1978) was a Bulgarian dissident writer. He originally worked as a novelist, screenwriter and playwright in his native country, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, until his defection in 196 ...

. He became World champion for the second time in 2001, and European champion in 2002 and in 2003. Galabin Boevski won 6 out of 8 major senior weightlifting competitions in which he took part, failing to win just twice - the World Championship in Lahti, 1999, when he finished fourth and the World Championship in Warsaw, 2002 when he bombed out in the clean and jerk.

World Records

Boevski set six senior world records in the 69 kg class during his career. His first world record was set on 16th of April 1999, at the European Championship in La Coruna, Spain - a total WR of 352.5 kg. His second and third WR were posted in the snatch on 24th of November, 1999 - 160.5 kg and 162.5 kg, consecutive successful attempts at the 1999 World Championship in Athens, Greece. In the second part of the same competition Boevski set a fourth WR - 196 kg in the clean & jerk, thus achieving also his fifth total WR of 357.5 kg which bettered the previous one from La Coruna. In 2000 at the Summer Olympics in

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Boevski set his sixth and last world record of 196.5 kg in the process of winning the Olympic gold medal in the 69 kg category. His clean & jerk record of 196.5 kg from the 2000 Summer Olympics and his total world record of 357.5 kg (set at the 1999 World Championships) were not broken until

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

by Liao Hui who managed 198 kg and 358 kg respectively.

#19 amongst the greates lifters of all time

Boevski's olympic total of 359 kg in Sydney, 2000, (162.5 kg + 196.5 kg) at a personal bodyweight of 68.65 kg. accounts for 19th place in the all-time greats weightlifter list. His Sinclair score achieved was 478.69 pts.

IWF suspensions

Boevski served a two-year suspension between 1996 and 1998 after being caught and confessing to the use of anabolic steroids. However, he was one of the few Bulgarian weightlifters that were clean in the doping row that resulted in the ejection of the Bulgarian weightlifting team from Sydney’s Olympic Village following three positive doping results. In 2004 Boevski was banned for eight years for allegedly tampering with his urine samples in 2003.

Major results

Honours

In 1999 Galabin Boevski was awarded 1st place in the annual survey Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year. He was also third in the year 2000, and second in 2001.

Drug trafficking

Boevski was arrested in October 2011, for possession of 9 kg of cocaine at the Guarulhos Airport in São Paulo, Brazil, on his way back from a tennis tournament for his daughter, Sara. He was allegedly recruited as a mule to smuggle illegal drugs from Brazil to Western Europe. The drug was found hidden in special secret compartments inside his suitcase. In May 2012, Boevski was sentenced to 9 years and 4 months in prison by the Federal Court in Brazil. Until the end of his trial, Boevski maintained his position that he is absolutely innocent and is not a mule or a drug trafficker. He supposed that he might have picked up the wrong suitcases intended for someone else. A little over a year later, in October 2013, Boevski surprisingly landed at Sofia's airport as a free man. The Bulgarian authorities had not been informed of his release and had no comment. Subsequently, it was made clear that Boevski was expulsed from prison following a usual Brazilian procedure for expulsion of foreign prisoners. The Bulgarian authorities were criticized for the lack of coordination and communication with their Brazilian counterparts - mainly for not indicting Boevski in Bulgaria and for not knowing of his Brazilian expulsion.

''The White Prisoner''

On December 21, 2013, '' Trud'' published a biography on Boevski's life entitled ''The White Prisoner: Galabin Boevski's Secret Story'' (Bulgarian: ''Белият затворник. Тайната история на Гълъбин Боевски''). The book was written by Ognian Georgiev, a sports editor for the daily newspaper ''Bulgaria Today''. The book spans Boevski's entire career as well as his cocaine conviction and release. The English version was published on 30 May 2014 as print and e-book.

References

External links

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Galabin Boevski
at IAT Database Weightlifting (in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Boevski, Galabin 1974 births Living people 21st-century Bulgarian criminals Bulgarian male weightlifters Olympic weightlifters for Bulgaria Olympic gold medalists for Bulgaria Olympic medalists in weightlifting Weightlifters at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics World Weightlifting Championships medalists European Weightlifting Championships medalists World record setters in weightlifting Bulgarian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in weightlifting Bulgarian people imprisoned abroad People from Knezha Sportspeople from Pleven Province Sportspeople convicted of crimes 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen