Nasar, who held youth, junior and senior records as a 17-year-old, apologised for his behaviour and said he would now focus on his preparations for the European Championships in Armenia in April.

According to media reports, he told the Bulgarian court that handed down the sentence, "I set a bad example and I'm sorry.

"I'm grateful it didn't turn into a nightmare and no one was hurt on the road.

"I don't want to comment on this event any more. 

"It won't happen again, I am not going to commit any more crimes. 

"I took drugs by accident."

Nasar, 18, was involved in a 20km car chase with police after he failed to stop when driving in the Black Sea resort of Pomorie last July.

He had no licence and, he admitted later, he was under the influence of amphetamines and methamphetamines, which are both banned stimulants in the sporting world.

Recreational drugs were found in the car but Nasar, who will be 19 in May, refused to provide a blood test to confirm the presence of any drugs in his bloodstream and cannot be charged with any offence by anti-doping authorities.

Driving while intoxicated can be punished with imprisonment of up to three years in Bulgaria.

But the court is said to have taken into account Nasar's previously clean record - no criminal record, no adverse findings in more than a dozen doping tests - and his status as a potential Olympic medallist in imposing a more lenient punishment.

His seven-month imprisonment is suspended while he is on probation for three years, and he must pay a fine of $250.

Nasar will be glad to put the past nine months behind him when he competes in Yerevan, the Armenian capital that hosts the European Championships from April 15-23.

He will need to make a total to earn his place in the Olympic qualifying rankings, having bombed out in the snatch at the 2022 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships in Bogotá, Colombia in December.

That effort came within 10 days of the death of Nasar's personal coach Ilian Iliev, who had a heart attack on the way to a training session.

Despite failing with all three attempts in the snatch at 89 kilograms, Nasar came out and set a senior world record of 220kg in the clean and jerk.

The man who had held that record, the Italian Antonino Pizzolato, was unfit to lift in Colombia but is expected to line up against Nasar in Yerevan.

Nasar holds youth and junior world record at 81kg and the Olympic weight of 89kg, as well as his senior 89kg clean and jerk world record.

His career best total of 382kg would place him second in the Paris 2024 rankings behind Keydomar Vallenilla of Venezuela.

Meanwhile, Ivan Ivanov has been deposed as national coach of Bulgaria along with his assistants, with Kristiana Koleva taking over.

Media reports suggest that the decision was made by Nedelcho Kolev, President of the Bulgarian Weightlifting Federation (BWF), because of "weak team discipline" and poor results at the IWF World Championships.

Kolev was soundly beaten by Arif Majed in the BWF elections in 2021 but has retained control during seemingly endless legal challenges and procedural problems.

New elections may take place soon.

The Bulgarian Ministry for Youth and Sports, which has drawn up proposals for the training of the national team, has been contacted by insidethegames for comment.