Eleven Bulgarian weightlifters who were supposed to compete at this year's summer Olympics in Beijing have tested positive for illegal substances, Anton Kodjabashev, the head of Bulgarian Weightlifting Federation told Focus news agency on June 27 2008.

The athletes, three female and eight males, tested positive on June 8-9 during a training session of Bulgaria's national weightlifting team in Assenovgrd, southern Bulgaria. They will now miss the games that will be held on August 8-24.

Bulgaria has to present a list with the names of all weightlifters that would compete in Beijing by July 14. With the eleven athletes out, this task will become almost impossible and the country's dreams for gold medals in this traditionally strong discipline for Bulgarians sport are pretty much over.

Unfortunately, Bulgaria's weightlifting has a long tradition of drug abuse. The number of weightlifters caught using banned substances is not short of names.

At the summer Olympics in Seoul in 1988, two Bulgarian weightlifters - Mitko Grablev and Angel Genchev - were stripped of their gold medals after being found guilty of doping.

In 2000, weightlifters Isabela Rifatova, Ivan Ivanov and Sevdalin Minchev tested positive for a diuretic during the Sydney Olympics. Rifatova won the gold in the 48kg category, Ivanov won a silver medal in the 56kg category, and Minchev won the bronze in the 62kg category.

Bulgaria's national weightlifting coach at the time, Ivan Abadjiev, admitted administering the drug Orocetam to the athletes. He claimed he was unaware that one of the drug's components was the banned diuretic furosemide.

Weightlifting is not Bulgaria's only problem. On June 26, Bulgarian shooter Antoaneta Boneva (22) tested positive for cocaine and will miss the Olympics in Beijing as well. Boneva was tested for drugs in a tournament in Italy earlier this year and her first sample tested positive for cocaine.

Cyclist Radoslava Konstatinov has also tested positive for illegal substances.