Sibel Şimşek

Sibel Şimşek (; born 10 October 1984) 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 (226 kg). 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 (243 kg).

At the 2010 European Weightlifting Championships in Minsk, she defended her European title with a 244 kg total (110 kg snatch, 134 kg clean & jerk), and the same year won the silver medal at the 2010 World Weightlifting Championships in Antalya (241 kg). 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 (IOC) 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 Year Venue Event Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total (kg) Rank Olympic Games 2004 Athens, Greece 69 kg x x x DSQ 2012 London, United Kingdom 63 kg 105 130 235 DSQ World Championships 2009 Goyang, South Korea 63 kg 108 135 243 2010 Antalya, Turkey 63 kg 111 130 241 European Championships 2004 Kyiv, Ukraine 69 kg 112.5 135 247.5 2007 Strasbourg, France 63 kg 98 117 215 2008 Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy 63 kg 105 121 226 2009 Bucharest, Romania 63 kg 108 128 236 2010 Minsk, Belarus 63 kg 110 134 244 2011 Kazan, Russia 63 kg 104 134 238 2012 Antalya, Turkey 63 kg 100 125 225 Mediterranean Games 2009 Pescara, Italy 63 kg 97 121 218 2013 Mersin, Turkey 63 kg 102 124 226 DSQ: Disqualified after IOC reanalysis of 2012 samples.