SOFIA: Bulgaria’s former world championship silver medallist Damyan Damyanov died on Sunday at the age of 39, becoming the latest member of a once-mighty Bulgarian weightlifting team to pass away at a young age. Former European weightlifting champion Velichko Cholakov, who served a four-year ban for doping, died at the age of 35 last year and the 2004 Olympic champion Milen Dobrev died at the same age three years ago. Three-times weightlifting world champion Mihail Petrov passed away at the age of 28 in 1992. A hospital official in the northeastern town of Shumen confirmed Damyanov’s death and said the cause would only be known after an autopsy. Local media, however, reported suspicions about serious liver and pancreatic disease. Published in Daily Times, July 31st 2018.