World champion in freestyle wrestling Magomedkhan Aratsilov, in an interview with SE, recalled the defeat in the decisive fight of the Moscow 1980 Olympics to the Bulgarian Ismail Abilov, whom he suspected of doping.
“I won all the fights before the final of the Olympics. I went to the Bulgarian, the year before in San Diego I won it 12-3. But in Moscow, he was some kind of puffy, I hit like a rock. And in the beginning I lost a lot of points. There wasn’t enough time to play. Then, when I worked in Turkey, we lived in the same room with this Bulgarian, I was a coach there and invited him to one event. All his hands are scarred, there are balls on his skin, violations. We steamed together, I saw everything. His tubular bones are damaged, scars are everywhere, everything is punctured, balls under the skin.
Hormonal doping causes osteoporosis, disruption of subcutaneous fat and affects childbearing. This is not to mention other diseases. Won Suleymanoglu, a Bulgarian three-time Olympic champion in weightlifting, died from it. Many of them are dying who used doping. Before the Olympics, his daughter was born; I think this is the Bulgarian school of weightlifting – hormonal doping. I banged on him at the Games like I was hitting a wall. And Pinigin (Olympic champion of Montreal. – Approx. “SE”) said that hormonal steroids give tremendous strength. There were no such checks at that time.”
Aratsilov lost to Abilov at the Moscow Olympics in the 5th round bout with a score of 4-8.
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