The key facts
- Bozhidar Andreev disqualified for four years — until November 17, 2029
- A metabolite of mestanolone was found in the sample taken on October 15, 2025
- The 2024 Olympic bronze remains with the athlete, but he will miss the 2028 Olympics
Four-year disqualification
Bulgarian weightlifter Bozhidar Andreev, bronze medalist at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, has been disqualified for four years for violating anti-doping rules. The International Testing Agency (ITA) announced this, as reported by Life.ru. The 29-year-old athlete was found to have a metabolite of mestanolone — an anabolic steroid included in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) prohibited list.
Case details and consequences
The positive result came from a sample taken on October 15, 2025, during out-of-competition testing. The disqualification period runs from November 18, 2025, when Andreev was provisionally suspended from competition, until November 17, 2029. This means the athlete will not be able to compete at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. All of his results from October 15 to November 18, 2025, have been annulled.
Medal retained
Andreev keeps his bronze medal from the Paris Olympics, since it was won before the anti-doping violation: he took third place in the weight category up to 73 kilograms. Earlier, the athlete also won bronze at the 2019 World Championships, twice won the European Championships (2019 and 2024), and finished fifth at the Tokyo Olympics.
Context
Separately, Life.ru previously reported on a four-year disqualification of two Russian weightlifters — Valentin Ponomarev and Sergey Dementyev — for anti-doping rule violations. The decision was made based on data from the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory; both athletes had already retired by that time. This is a separate case, unrelated to Andreev's case.
