Former Bulgarian wrestling champion Nikolay Shterev died Wednesday of COVID-19, the country's wrestling federation said in a statement. The 33-year-old Shterev did not recover from the virus after being admitted to hospital in a serious condition on June 19. Shterev, the son of Bulgaria's legendary wrestling coach Simeon Shterev, won the Dan Kolov international tournament in 2011 in the 125-kilogramme category and also became a national champion in the same category in 2018. He ended his career late last year after testing positive for the banned substance cardarine and receiving a four-year ban from competition. Shterev's father, who led Bulgarian female wrestler Stanka Zlateva to two Olympic and multiple world and European championships medals, has also been infected with the virus but is recovering. ds/jsk/gd