Antonio Krastev

Who is Antonio Krastev?

Antonio Krastev is a former Bulgarian super heavyweight weightlifter who is best known for lifting the heaviest snatch ever in IWF competition at 216 kg, although this record is no longer official due to the restructuring of the weight classes. 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 who had won gold medals in their weight classes tested positive for banned substances, and the Buglarian weightlifting federation pulled the rest of the team out of the competition the day before Krastev was scheduled to compete. Mitko Grablev & Angel Guenchev were both disqualified after they tested positive for Furosemide. At the time, Krastev was a two-time World champion and two-time European champion, and a heavy favorite for the gold medal.