Velichko Cholakov (, 12 January 1982 20 August 2017) was a Bulgarian

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 ...

Career

He competed in the over 105 kg class at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

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, his first Olympics, winning an Olympic bronze medal. After missing two

clean and jerk The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most often performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the ''clean'', the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without rest ...

attempts at 245 kg, he managed to lift a total of 447.5 kg, placing him behind

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

Viktors Ščerbatihs Viktors Ščerbatihs (born 6 October 1974 in Dobele) is a former Latvian weightlifter, politician and a three-time Olympian for his native country. He is 181 cm tall. In the 2004 Summer Olympics, he won the silver medal in the +105 kg ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Hossein Reza Zadeh Hossein Rezazadeh (; born 12 May 1978) is an Iranian politician and retired weightlifter. Rezazadeh is a two-time Olympic champion, four-time World Weightlifting champion, and five-time Asian champion. Rezazadeh has won the Iran Sportsperson o ...

. Velichko won the European weightlifting title in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

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in 2004, and finished second at the World championship in

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in 2003. In 2002, he won gold medals at both the European and World Youth Weightlifting championships. He was once measured during competition as 2.05 meters tall, thus making lifting more difficult both in regard to distance of elevation and less than ideal limb proportions. Cholakov tested positive for a

steroid A steroid is an organic compound with four fused compound, fused rings (designated A, B, C, and D) arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes t ...

in 2008 during an out-of-competition test, along with ten other weightlifters, and therefore Bulgaria's weightlifting federation withdrew its team from the

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

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. Apart from Cholakov the athletes who tested positive were Ivailo Filev,

Alan Tsagaev Alan Tsagaev ( Bulgarian spelling of name: Алан Цагаев, born 13 September 1977) is a naturalized Bulgarian weightlifter of Ossetian origin who competed in the Men's 105 kg weight class at the 2000 Summer Olympics and won a silver me ...

, Mehmed Fikretov,

Ivan Stoitsov Ivan Stoitsov (Иван Стоицов, born in Plovdiv) is a Bulgarian male weightlifter, competing in the 77 kg category and representing Bulgaria at international competitions. He participated at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the 77 kg event. H ...

, Ivan Markov,

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 ...

Demir Demirev Demir Demirev (, born 31 August 1984) is a Bulgarian weightlifter. He is of Roma ethnicity. He participated in the men's -69 kg class at the 2006 World Weightlifting Championships and won the bronze medal, finishing behind Vencelas Dabaya ...

, Milka Maneva, Donka Mincheva and Gergana Kirilova. He was supposed to compete for

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during the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, but withdrew before the 105+ kg competition due to health issues.

Career bests

* Snatch: 207.5 kg in

. *

Clean and jerk The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most often performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the ''clean'', the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without rest ...

: 245.0 kg 2004 European Weightlifting Championships. * Total: 447.5 kg (205.0+242.5) 2003 World Weightlifting Championships.

Death

Velichko Cholakov died in Smolyan on 20 August 2017, aged 35, after a recent history of heart problems.Former European champion Velichko Cholakov dies at 35
''The Indian Express''. Retrieved 20 August 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cholakov, Velichko 1982 births 2017 deaths Sportspeople from Smolyan Bulgarian male weightlifters Olympic weightlifters for Bulgaria Weightlifters at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Bulgaria Bulgarian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in weightlifting Olympic medalists in weightlifting Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Bulgarian emigrants to Azerbaijan European Weightlifting Championships medalists World Weightlifting Championships medalists 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen