Petar Merkov

Petar Merkov

Medal record
Men's canoe sprint
Olympic Games
	2000 Sydney	K-1 500 m
	2000 Sydney	K-1 1000 m
World Championships
	1999 Milan	K-1 500 m
	2002 Seville	K-1 500 m
	2002 Seville	K-4 1000 m

Petar Hristov Merkov (Bulgarian: Петър Христов Мерков, born 3 November 1976 in Plovdiv) is a Bulgarian sprint canoeist who competed in the late 1990s and early 2000s (decade). Competing in three Summer Olympics, he who won two silver medals at Sydney in 2000 (K-1 500 m, K-1 1000 m). Prior to those games, Merkov was subjected to controversy for failing a doping test in Bulgaria which led to over a dozen canoeing nations petitioning the International Canoe Federation for an investigation, only to have Bulgarian officials stonewall on his behalf to compete. He would later refuse to attend the post-race press conference of K-1 1000 m in the wake of those allegations.

Merkov was K-1 500 m European champion in 1999.

At the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, Merkov won silver medals in the K-1 500 m event in 1999 and 2002. In 2002, he also won a bronze in K-4 1000 m.

Merkov is 188 cm (6'2") tall and weighs 95 kg (209 lbs). He is currently a member of the Levski Canoe/Kayak Club in Sofia.

References

• ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships – Part 1: flatwater (now sprint): 1936–2007 at the Wayback Machine (archived 2010-01-05)
• ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships – Part 2: rest of flatwater (now sprint) and remaining canoeing disciplines: 1936–2007 at WebCite (archived 2009-11-09)
• Sports-reference.com profile
• Wallechinsky, David and Jaime Loucky (2008). The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition, London: Aurum Press Limited. pp. 470, 473.