Petar Merkov

Petar Hristov Merkov 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. 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.