The ITA issues decision sanctioning Azerbaijan weightlifter Boyanka Kostova to 8-year period of ineligibility

The ITA had previously reported that a sample collected during an In-Competition testing mission on 5 April 2021 during the 2021 European Championships in Moscow, Russia from gold medal winner (59 kgs) Ms Boyanka Minkova Kostova, had returned an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) for the prohibited steroid stanozolol metabolite.

Following the Results Management of the case, the ITA concluded that Ms Kostova has committed an ADRV under Article 2.1 of the IWF Anti-Doping Rules (IWF ADR) for the presence of a prohibited substance. Accordingly, Ms Kostova has been sanctioned with a period of ineligibility of 8 years¹ – 10 May 2021 until 9 May 2029 and the disqualification of her results at 2021 European Weightlifting Championships, including forfeiture of medals, points and prizes.

During the period of Ineligibility, as per Article 10.14 of the IWF ADR, Ms Kostova cannot participate in any capacity in any competition or any other activity either at the international or national level organized by any signatory of the World Anti-Doping Code.

¹As Ms Kostova was previously sanctioned with a period of ineligibility from 10 June 2016 until 10 June 2018 for the presence of the prohibited steroid Dehydrochloromethyl- testosterone from the re-testing of her sample provided during the 2012 London Olympic Games, this case is considered as her second ADRV.