Petar Hristov Merkov (Bulgarian: Петър Христов Мерков, born 3 November 1976 in Plovdiv) is a Bulgariansprint 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 (K-1 500 m, K-1 1000 m). 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.
