SOFIA, Feb 11: Bulgaria’s weightlifting champion Milen Dobrev will almost certainly miss this year’s Olympic Games in Beijing due to a serious back injury, his federation said on Monday.

“Dobrev’s persistent back injury and the little time left until the Olympics will not allow him to prepare well enough to compete,” federation’s chief secretary Tencho Tenev said.

Dobrev won the men’s weightlifting 94kg gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.—AFP