View source for Milen Dobrev

{{Short description|Bulgarian weightlifter (1980–2015)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| headercolor    = lightblue
| name           = Milen Dobrev
| image          = 
| imagesize      = 
| caption        = 
| nationality    = [[Bulgarian people|Bulgarian]]
| residence      = 
| birth_date     = {{Birth date|1980|2|22}}
| birth_place    = [[Plovdiv]], Bulgaria
| death_date     = {{death date and age|2015|3|21|1980|2|22}}
| death_place    = [[Plovdiv]], Bulgaria
| height         = {{convert|1.77|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
| weight         = {{convert|94|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}
| website        = 
| country        = Bulgaria
| sport          = [[Olympic weightlifting|Weightlifting]]
| event          = &ndash;94 kg
| collegeteam    = 
| club           = Olimp, Plovdiv 
| team           =  
| turnedpro      = 
| coach          = 
| retired        = 
| coaching       = 
| pb             = {{Unbulleted list|'''Snatch''': 187.5&nbsp;kg (2004) |'''Clean & Jerk''': 222.5&nbsp;kg (2003) |'''Total''': 407.5&nbsp;kg (2004) }}
| medaltemplates = {{MedalCountry|{{BUL}}}}
{{MedalSport|Men's [[Olympic weightlifting|Weightlifting]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Weightlifting at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]}}
[[File:Olympic rings.svg|center|80px]]
{{MedalGold|[[2004 Summer Olympics|2004 Athens]]|[[Weightlifting at the 2004 Summer Olympics|&ndash;94 kg]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[World Weightlifting Championships|World Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[2003 World Weightlifting Championships|2003 Vancouver]]|[[2003 World Weightlifting Championships – Men's 94 kg|&ndash;94 kg]]}}
{{MedalSilver|[[2002 World Weightlifting Championships|2002 Warsaw]]|[[2002 World Weightlifting Championships – Men's 94 kg|&ndash;94 kg]]}}
{{MedalBronze|[[2001 World Weightlifting Championships|2001 Antalya]]|[[2001 World Weightlifting Championships – Men's 85 kg|&ndash;85 kg]]}}
{{MedalBronze|[[2005 World Weightlifting Championships|2005 Doha]]|[[2005 World Weightlifting Championships – Men's 94 kg|&ndash;94 kg]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[European Weightlifting Championships|European Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[2003 European Weightlifting Championships|2003 Loutraki]]|&ndash;94 kg}}
{{MedalGold|[[2004 European Weightlifting Championships|2004 Kyiv]]|&ndash;94 kg}}
{{MedalSilver|[[2002 European Weightlifting Championships|2002 Antalya]]|&ndash;94 kg}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Goodwill Games]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[2001 Goodwill Games|2001 Brisbane]]|&ndash;85 kg}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[World Junior Weightlifting Championships| World Junior Championships]]}}
{{MedalSilver|2000 Prague|&ndash;85 kg}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[European Youth Weightlifting Championships|European Youth Championships]]}}
{{MedalBronze|1996 Burgas|&ndash;70 kg}}
| show-medals    = yes
}}
'''Milen Atanasov Dobrev''' ({{langx|bg|Милен Атанасов Добрев}}, February 22, 1980 – March 21, 2015) was a Bulgarian [[Olympic weightlifting|weightlifter]]. 

==Early life==
Milen Dobrev was born in the village of [[Zhitnitsa, Plovdiv Province]], Bulgaria in 1980. Dobrev started training weightlifting in 1991 under the coach Georgi Yotovski, when he was in sixth grade at the Vasil Levski Sports School and competed for the team of Maritsa. He soon proved to be a great prospect for the future.

==Youth career==
His first international competition on youth level was in 1996, at the European Youth Weightlifting Championships in Burgas Bulgaria, where he totalled 255 kg for the bronze medal.
He also participated twice in World Youth Weightlifting Championships and was awarded a silver medal in Prague, 2000.

During his military service (1999–2000), he was part of the team of CSKA. After 2001 Dobrev transferred to the team of Maritsa-Olimp and started training under Krastyo Milev.

==Senior career==
After the win in the 85 kg weightlifting tournament of 2001 Brisbane Goodwill Games in Australia, he established himself as prominent part of the world elite of weightlifters. 

He became part of the extended men's national team on February 11, 2001, and made his debut at the European Men's Championship in [[Trenčín]], Slovakia, winning bronze medal in the snatch, though failed to achieve a successful C&J attempt and posted a zero total. Later in 2001 he also made a debut at the 2001 World Championship in Antalya, Turkey, winning his first total bronze medal in the 85 kg category. 

In 2002 he won silver medal at the European Championship in Antalya, Turkey, in the 94 kg category. Later in the same year, Dobrev also became second at the World Championship in Warsaw, Poland.

In 2003 he managed to win the gold medals both at the European Championship in Loutraki, Greece and the World Championship in Vancouver, Canada.

His undefeated run continued in 2004, when he first won the European Championship in Kiev, Ukraine in April and then in August he peaked throughout his career winning the Olympic gold in Athens 2004 Olympic games [[Weightlifting at the 2004 Summer Olympics|middle heavyweight]] class. 

The following year in [[Doha]], Qatar, he managed for bronze at the World Championships, which accounted for his last eight medal on a senior level.

Milen Dobrev collected 4 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals out of 10 major senior competitions in which he took part throughout his career. 

He was the first Bulgarian to win an Olympic title in weightlifting as a member of a team from Plovdiv (Maritsa-Olimp). 

Milen Dobrev has been an honorary citizen of Plovdiv since 2004. On April 20, 2005, at a ceremony in the Greek Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria, he was also named honorary citizen of Athens, Greece.<ref name=db-olymp>[http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=DOBREMIL01 Profile: "Milen Dobrev"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070216153445/http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=DOBREMIL01 |date=February 16, 2007}} ''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on December 31, 2007)</ref><ref name=gbrathletics>[http://www.gbrathletics.com/olympic/weight.htm "Olympic Games Medallists &ndash; Weightlifting"] (Retrieved on December 31, 2007)</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/0/weightlifting/31999134 | title=Milen Dobrev: Olympic champion weightlifter dies, aged 35 | publisher=[[BBC]] | date=March 21, 2015 | accessdate=March 21, 2015}}</ref>

==Death==
Milen Dobrev died of a heart attack in his home in [[Plovdiv]] in 2015 at the age of 35. 

==Major results==

{|class = "wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan=2 width=40|Year
! rowspan=2 width=250|Venue
! rowspan=2 width=60|Weight
!colspan=4| Snatch (kg)
!colspan=4| Clean & Jerk (kg)
!rowspan=2 width=40| Total
!rowspan=2 width=40| Rank
|-
! width=40|1
! width=40|2
! width=40|3
! width=40|Rank
! width=40|1
! width=40|2
! width=40|3
! width=40|Rank
|-
! colspan=13|Represented {{BUL}}
|-
! colspan=13|[[Weightlifting at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]] <br>[[File:Olympic rings.svg|80px]]
|-
| [[Weightlifting at the 2004 Summer Olympics|2004]] || align=left | {{flagicon|GRE}} [[Athens]], Greece || [[Weightlifting at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 94 kg | 94&nbsp;kg]] || 180 || 185 || '''187.5''' || – || 217.5 || '''220'''  || <s>225</s> || – || '''407.5''' || {{gold1}}
|-
! colspan="13" |[[World Championships]]
|-
|2001 || align=left| {{flagicon|TUR}} [[Antalya]], Turkey || [[2001 World Weightlifting Championships – Men's 85 kg|85&nbsp;kg]]|| 165 || 170 || '''175''' || {{bronze3}} || 195 || '''207.5''' || <s>212.5</s> || 4 || '''382.5'''|| {{bronze3}}
|-
|2002 || align=left| {{flagicon|POL}} [[Warsaw]], Poland || [[2002 World Weightlifting Championships – Men's 94 kg|94&nbsp;kg]] || <s>175</s> || '''175''' || <s>177.5</s> ||{{bronze3}} || '''212.5''' || <s>220</s> || <s>220</s> || {{silver2}} || '''387.5'''||{{silver2}}
|-
|2003 || align=left| {{flagicon|CAN}} [[Vancouver]], Canada || [[2003 World Weightlifting Championships – Men's 94 kg|94&nbsp;kg]] || 180 || '''185''' || <s>187.5</s> ||{{gold1}} || <s>220</s> || '''220''' || <s>222.5</s> || {{silver2}} || '''405'''||{{gold1}}
|-
|2005 || align=left| {{flagicon|QAT}} [[Doha]], Qatar || [[2005 World Weightlifting Championships – Men's 94 kg|94&nbsp;kg]] || <s>176</s> || 176 || '''180''' ||4 || 210 || <s>215</s> || '''218''' || {{bronze3}} || '''398'''||{{bronze3}}
|-
|2006 || align=left| {{flagicon|DOM}} [[Santo Domingo]], Dominican Republic || [[2006 World Weightlifting Championships – Men's 94 kg|94&nbsp;kg]] || <s>170</s> || <s>170</s> || <s>170</s> || – || – || – || – || – || -|| –
|-
! colspan="13" |European Championships
|-
|2001|| align="left" | {{Flagicon|SVK}} [[Trenčín]], Slovakia || 85&nbsp;kg || 162.5 || 167.5 || 170 || {{bronze3}} || <s>200</s> || <s>202.5</s> || <s>202.5</s> || – || – || –
|-
|2002|| align="left" | {{flagicon|TUR}} [[Antalya]], Turkey || 94&nbsp;kg || 175 || 180 || '''182.5''' ||{{silver2}} || 210 || '''215''' || <s>217.5</s> ||{{silver2}} || '''397.5''' || {{silver2}}
|-
|2003|| align="left" |{{flagicon|GRE}} [[Loutraki]], Greece || 94&nbsp;kg || 175 || 180 || '''182.5''' ||{{gold1}}|| 215 || 217.50 || '''222.5''' ||{{gold1}}|| '''405''' ||{{gold1}}
|-
|2004|| align="left" |{{flagicon|UKR}} [[Kyiv]], Ukraine || 94&nbsp;kg || 180 || 182.5 || '''185''' ||{{gold1}}|| 215 || '''217.5''' || – ||{{gold1}}|| '''402.5''' ||{{gold1}}
|-
! colspan="13" |World Junior Weightlifting Championships
|-
|1998 || align=left| {{flagicon|BUL}} [[Sofia]], Bulgaria || 85&nbsp;kg || 145 || 150 || '''152.5''' || 4 || '''180''' || <s>185</s> || <s>185</s> || 9 ||'''332.5''' || 5
|-
|2000 || align=left| {{flagicon|CZE}} [[Prague]], Czech Republic || 85&nbsp;kg || 150 || '''157.5''' || <s>160</s> || 4 || 192.5 || 197.5 || '''200''' || {{gold1}} ||'''357.5''' || {{silver2}}
|-
! colspan="13" |European Youth Weightlifting Championship
|-
|1996|| align="left" |{{flagicon|BUL}} [[Burgas]], Bulgaria || 70&nbsp;kg || 110 || 115 ||'''117.5'''||{{bronze3}}|| 130 || 135 || '''137.5''' || 4 ||'''255'''||{{bronze3}}
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.iat.uni-leipzig.de/datenbanken/dbgwh/daten.php?spid=44FCEBEDC1D24748A35CED7DB7C1E1CF Milen Dobrev] at IAT Database Weightlifting

{{Footer Olympic Champions Weightlifting Middle heavyweight}}
{{Footer World Champions Weightlifting – Men Middle heavyweight}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobrev, Milen}}
[[Category:1980 births]]
[[Category:2015 deaths]]
[[Category:Bulgarian male weightlifters]]
[[Category:Weightlifters at the 2004 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for Bulgaria]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in weightlifting]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Plovdiv]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Goodwill Games medalists in weightlifting]]
[[Category:European Weightlifting Championships medalists]]
[[Category:World Weightlifting Championships medalists]]
[[Category:Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games]]
[[Category:20th-century Bulgarian people]]
[[Category:21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen]]