Antonio Krastev’s biography, net worth, fact, career, awards and life story

Intro Bulgarian weightlifter
Is Athlete 
Weightlifter 
From Bulgaria 
Type Sports 
Gender male
Birth 10 October 1961
Age: 58 years

Antonio Krastev (Bulgarian: Антонио Кръстев) (born 1961 in Haskovo) is a former Bulgarian superheavyweight weightlifter who is best known for lifting the heaviest snatch ever in IWF competition at 216 kg, which was equalled by Behdad Salimi of Iran at the 2016 Olympic Games. However, his record is no longer official due to the restructuring of the weight classes in 1993 and 1998.
Antonio is a two-time World Weightlifting Championships gold medalist and two time European Weightlifting Championships gold medalist, but never competed in the Olympic Games.
Krastev was originally intended to represent Bulgaria at the 1988 Olympic Games in the superheavyweight category. Two of his teammates, Mitko Grablev (56 kg) & Angel Guenchev (67.5 kg) had won gold medals but were both disqualified after they tested positive for Furosemide, and the Bulgarian weightlifting federation pulled the rest of the team out of the competition the day before Krastev was scheduled to compete. At the time, Krastev was a two-time World champion and two-time European champion, and a heavy favorite for the gold medal.

Major result

Year Venue Weight Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total Rank
1 2 3 Rank 1 2 3 Rank
World Championships
1981 Lille, France +110 kg 185 03 ! — — — —
1982 Ljubljana, SFR Yugoslavia +110 kg 200 01 ! 242.5 02 ! 442.5 02 !
1983 Moscow, Soviet Union +110 kg 190 5 237.5 03 ! 427.5 03 !
1985 Södertälje, Sweden +110 kg 202.5 01 ! 235 4 437.5 01 !
1986 Sofia, Bulgaria +110 kg 215 01 ! 245 02 ! 460 01 !
1987 Ostrava, Czechoslovakia +110 kg 215 01 ! 245 4 460 03 !

World records

  • 15 November 1986 Snatch – 212.5 kg Super Heavyweight Sofia
  • 15 November 1986 Snatch – 215 kg Super Heavyweight Sofia
  • 9 May 1987 Snatch – 215.5 kg Super Heavyweight Reims
  • 9 May 1987 Total – 467.5 kg Super Heavyweight Reims
  • 13 September 1987 Snatch – 216 kg Super Heavyweight Ostrava
  • ^
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