Asen Zlatev (Bulgarian: ???? ??????; born May 23, 1960) is a former Bulgarian weightlifter.
He became Olympic champion in 1980 in the middleweight class.Zlatev was originally intended to represent Bulgaria at the 1988 Olympic Games in the Light Heavyweight (82,5 kg) category.
Two of his teammates who had won gold medals in their weight classes tested positive for banned substances, and the Buglarian weightlifting federation pulled the rest of the team out of the competition the day before Zlatev was scheduled to compete.
Mitko Grablev (56 kg) & Angel Guenchev (67.5 kg) were both disqualified after they tested positive for Furosemide.
At the time, Zlatev was a three-time World champion and five-time European champion, and a heavy favorite for the gold medal.Zlatev competed at the 2017 World Masters Games in Auckland, New Zealand, in the M 55-59 year group as a 69kg lifter.
He won silver with 78kg in the Snatch and 90kg in the Clean and Jerk, being turned down with 95kg on his 2nd and 3rd attempts to win with a press out.