THE SEOUL GAMES / DAY 8 : Another Bulgarian Loses Medal After Detection of Banned Drug

Angel Guenchev of Bulgaria, the 148 1/2-pound weightlifting champion, lost his gold medal Saturday after testing positive for a banned drug, becoming the second Bulgarian gold medalist to be found guilty of drug abuse at the 1988 Olympic Games.

Guenchev, who won his gold medal Wednesday night, was found by the International Olympic Committee Medical Commission to have used a diruetic, the same kind of drug that forced the IOC to strip the medal of Mitko Grablev in the 123-pound category.

Grablev was sent home by the Bulgarian Olympic Committee and suspended from competition for 2 years by the International Weightlifting Federation. He also was dropped from the national team.

The gold medal was awarded to Oxen Mirzoian of the Soviet Union, who had finished second in the weight class.

The IOC Medical Commission also recommended the disqualification of Spain’s Jorge Quesada in the modern pentathlon. Quesada, who did not win a medal, tested positive for Propranolol, a beta blocker, which is used by heart patients to steady the heartbeat.