Weightlifting Coach Gets Life Ban For Doping

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) _ Weightlifting coach Sevdalin Marinov, a former Olympic and world champion, was banned for life after a second doping violation. <br/><br/>Marinov was sanctioned by the Court of

Monday, June 18th 2007, 10:29 am

By: News On 6

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) _ Weightlifting coach Sevdalin Marinov, a former Olympic and world champion, was banned for life after a second doping violation.

Marinov was sanctioned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport for possession of prohibited substances, including testosterone and anabolic steroids, uncovered during a police raid at the coach's home in 2003, the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority said Monday.

Marinov tested positive to steroids in Bulgaria in 1995 before moving to Australia, where he most recently coached the national junior program. Under the world anti-doping code, a second offense brings an automatic life ban.

ASADA chairman Richard Ings said Marinov was the third person to be sanctioned to date as a direct result of ASADA's new powers of investigation.

During the November 2003 search, three boxes of prohibited substances _ deca-durabol, sustanon and ilium stanabolic _ were found in Marinov's bedroom, Ings said.

``This CAS decision sends a powerful message that there is no room in Australian sport for those athletes or their support persons who use or traffic in doping substances,'' he said.

Former world champion Sergo Chakhoyan was banned for life earlier in the year after a second positive test for a banned substance.

Armenian-born Chakhoyan, tested positive for the stimulant benzylpiperazine, or BZP, while competing for Australia at the 2005 Commonwealth, Oceania and South Pacific weightlifting championships. He previously was banned for two years in 2001 after testing positive to the anabolic steroid stanozolol during the Goodwill Games in Brisbane.