Sibel Şimşek


Sibel Şimşek is a Turkish weightlifter who competed in the women's 63 kg and 69 kg categories. She is a multiple European champion and World Championships medalist representing Turkey. Şimşek represented the club Kocaeli Büyükşehir Belediyesi Kağıt Spor Kulübü and was coached by Mehmet Üstündağ.

Career

Şimşek made her international breakthrough by winning the gold medal in the 69 kg category at the 2004 European Championships in Kyiv, lifting 247.5 kg in total.
She went on to compete at the 2004 Athens Olympics, but failed all three snatch attempts.
She won silver at the 2007 European Championships in Strasbourg with a 215 kg total, and another silver at the 2008 Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro.
In 2009, Şimşek became European Champion again in Bucharest with 236 kg and later earned a bronze medal at the 2009 World Weightlifting Championships in Goyang.
At the 2010 European Weightlifting Championships in Minsk, she defended her European title with a 244 kg total, and the same year won the silver medal at the 2010 World Weightlifting Championships in Antalya.
She later captured her fourth European title at the 2012 European Weightlifting Championships in Antalya, lifting a total of 225 kg.
Şimşek competed at the 2012 London Olympics, initially finishing fourth with a 235 kg total, but was later disqualified after a re-analysis of her doping test returned positive in 2017.

Disqualification

On 12 January 2017, the International Olympic Committee announced that Şimşek was disqualified from the 2012 Summer Olympics after testing positive for a banned substance during a re-analysis of stored samples. Her results from the London Olympics were annulled, and the medals were reallocated.

Major results

  • DSQ: Disqualified after IOC reanalysis of 2012 samples.