Lifting their country’s spirits with medals

He lifted 205 kg pounds in the clean-and-jerk and totaled 370 kg to win the golds.

Badr is one of eight Bulgarian weightlifters recently given Qatari passports and Arabic names in exchange for an undisclosed sum of money.

Most were second-team athletes, who had trouble earning a place in competition for Bulgaria, a country which has no shortage of top-level lifters.

“If they don’t violate any rules, it is acceptable,” said Tamas Ajan, general secretary International Weightlifting Federation.

The deal was reached earlier this year between the Gulf state and Bulgaria’s cash-strapped weightlifting federation and allows the athletes to retain their old citizenship as well.

Although they can no longer compete for Bulgaria, they still train there under their old coach, Ivan Abadjiev, and have his assistant, Zlatan Ivanov, as the Qatari national team coach.

“In Arab countries, they don’t care so much about winning medals, they just want to beat other Arab countries,” said Mohammed Youssif Fadul, formerly Vasil Linov, one of new Qataris.

Badr and one other lifter are the only serious medal contenders at the world championships.

“This doesn’t look too legitimate, but it’s all part of the fall of the Soviet Union,” said Dresdin Archibald, president of the Canadian Weightlifting Federation.

“If we have to put up with this for a short time it’s a small price to pay for the fall of the Berlin Wall.”

Greece’s Victor Mitrou, who won the silver medal in yesterday’s competition after matching Badr’s total but losing out due to body weight, had no complaints.

“I compete against athletes, not countries,” he said.

Plamen Jeliazkov of Bulgaria won all three bronze medals.