LAUSANNE: Former world champion weightlifter Boyanka Kostova was banned for eight years for doping on Thursday after making her comeback from an earlier sanction for performance-enhancing drug use at the Olympics.

The International Testing Agency said Kostova tested positive for traces of the steroid stanozolol on her way to winning the European championship title in the 59kg category in April. She was born in Bulgaria but later switched allegiance to Azerbaijan, which lavishly funded her bids for Olympic medals.

Kostova was banned from 2016 through 2018 after a reanalysis of her sample from the 2012 Olympics, where she placed fifth, found the steroid turinabol.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2021