Surprisingly, Bulgaria did not compete in the men's relay race at the Biathlon European Championship in Otepaa, Estonia on Tuesday.

Only three Bulgarian biathletes were available to compete in the 4 x 7.5 kilometre relay race – Vladimir Iliev, Dimitar Partalov and Dimitar Gerdzhikov, daily Sega reports.

Ivan Zlatev and Anton Sinapov missed the race due to illness, while Krasimir Anev refused to participate on the instruction of his coach.

The Bulgarian Biathlon Federation revealed that since the start of the season Anev was preparing on an individual programme under the guidance of his personal coach Georgi Fartunov.

Fartunov refused Anev's participation in the relay, as this would interrupt his participation at the forthcoming Biathlon World Cup.

Thus the Bulgarians, who were one of the hidden favourites and even had chances of winning a medal, failed to gather the necessary four participants.

Bulgaria participated in the women's relay, finishing 12^th out of the 15 teams that competed in the 4 x 6 kilometre race.

Bulgaria concludes its participation at the 2015 European Championship with two medals – silver claimed by Anev in the pursuit and bronze won by Iliev in the individual race.