Naim Süleymanoğlu
Template:Short description Template:Infobox sportsperson
Naim Süleymanoğlu (23 January 1967 – 18 November 2017)<ref name="zeit">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="welt">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> was a Turkish Olympic weightlifter. He was a seven-time World Weightlifting champion and a three-time Olympic gold medalist who set 51 world records.<ref name="chidlovski">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="pantheon">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At 147 cm in height, Süleymanoğlu's short stature and great strength led to him being nicknamed "Pocket Hercules". He is widely considered as one of the greatest Olympic weightlifters of all time, with many calling him the best pound-for-pound weightlifter in the history of weightlifting.
At the 1988 Summer Olympics, Süleymanoğlu set multiple world records in the featherweight division in the snatch, clean and jerk, and total.<ref name="srwl">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name = sportsreference>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Following the 1988 Summer Olympics, he made the cover of Time magazine. Süleymanoğlu went on to win Olympic gold in 1992 and 1996. He was awarded the Olympic Order in 2001. In 2000 and 2004, he was elected as a member of the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame.
Early life in Bulgaria, early career, and defection to Turkey
Süleymanoğlu was born in Ptichar, Kardzhali Province, Bulgaria. His father was a miner who stood only five feet tall, while his mother was four-foot-seven.<ref name="NYTObit">Template:Cite news</ref> He set a world weightlifting record during his teens<ref name="auto2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="auto">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and would have been an overwhelming favorite to win gold at the 1984 Summer Olympics had Bulgaria not joined in a boycott by the Eastern Bloc.<ref name="Olympic">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In the 1980s, Bulgaria's government implemented a program called the Revival Process which required ethnic minorities to adopt Slavic names and barred their languages.<ref>The Policies of the Bulgarian Communist Party towards Jews, Roma, Pomaks and Turks (1944-89) Template:Webarchive (Bulgarian). By Ulrich Büchsenschütz. International Center for Minority Studies and Intercultural Relations, 2000. Retrieved 26 May 2012.</ref> As a result, Süleymanoğlu was forced to change his name to Naum Shalamanov (Bulgarian: Наум Шаламанов) in 1985. He decided to leave Bulgaria after these experiences and he conducted encrypted correspondence with Turkish Squad during the period.<ref name="NYTObit" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
While on a trip to the World Cup Final in Melbourne in 1986, Süleymanoğlu escaped his handlers, and after several days in hiding, he defected at the Turkish Embassy in Canberra. When Embassy officials reported the situation to Turgut Özal, The Prime Minister ordered him to be brought at once. He landed in London first, where he was transferred into a private jet to fly into Istanbul and Ankara eventually. After making his way to Istanbul, he changed his name back to Süleymanoğlu.<ref name="NYTObit"/>
In 2012, Süleymanoğlu said, "Against all the odds, I've never been nostalgic. After being treated with such attitude, you wouldn't regret it. The Bulgarians changed the names of 2 million people by force. It was a very difficult period. People who witnessed the events would know. I wouldn't change any of the decisions I took that day in my life. Even if I could set back the clock, I would still escape Bulgaria. Because as the Turkish people, we were too hard-pressed in Bulgaria."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Olympic competition
In order for Süleymanoğlu to compete at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the Bulgarian government had to agree to release his eligibility to Turkey. The Turks paid Bulgaria $1.25 million for his release.<ref name="Olympic" />
At the Olympics, Süleymanoğlu competed in the featherweight division.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His main competition was his old teammate from the Bulgarian team, Stefan Topurov. He came out for the snatch portion of the competition after all other athletes had finished and made three consecutive lifts, setting world records in his last two attempts. In the clean and jerk portion, Topurov completed a 175.0 kg clean and jerk after Süleymanoğlu. With his next two lifts, Süleymanoğlu set two more world records and won his first Olympic gold. His last lift was a 190.0 kg clean and jerk that was 3.15 times his body weight,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which is the highest ratio clean and jerk to body weight of all time. Using the Sinclair coefficient, his performance at the 1988 Seoul Olympics was the most dominating weightlifting performance of all time.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> His total was high enough to win the weight class above his.<ref name = sportsreference /> After the 1988 Summer Olympics, Süleymanoğlu appeared on the cover of Time magazine.<ref name="auto"/> The 4'10" Süleymanoğlu's "diminutive size and stunning strength"<ref name="NYTObit" /> led to him being nicknamed "Pocket Hercules".<ref name="auto2"/><ref name="auto"/><ref name="NYTObit" />
Süleymanoğlu retired from weightlifting at the age of 22 after winning the world championship in 1989.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> However, he returned to the sport in 1991<ref name="auto2"/> and won a second Olympic gold medal in Barcelona in 1992.<ref name="NYTObit" /> He retired after winning a third consecutive Olympic gold medal in Atlanta at the 1996 Olympic Games. That competition was noted for the rivalry between Süleymanoğlu and Greece's Valerios Leonidis, with the arena divided into partisan Turkish and Greek crowds. At the end of the competition, they were the last competitors remaining as they traded three straight world-record lifts. Süleymanoğlu managed to raise 187.5 kg, and then Leonidis failed in his attempt to lift 190 kg which earned Süleymanoğlu the gold medal. In a show of sportsmanship Süleymanoğlu embraced Leonidis, who had broken down in tears. Announcer Lynn Jones proclaimed, "You have just witnessed the greatest weightlifting competition in history," according to Ken Jones of The Independent.<ref>1996 Olympics Day 4. sportsillustrated.cnn.com</ref><ref>The New York Times: This Day In Sports. Nytimes.com (1996-07-22). Retrieved on 2014-08-10.</ref><ref>Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: Mount Olympus Meets the Middle Kingdom. Encyclopædia Britannica</ref>
Süleymanoğlu made another comeback in a late attempt to earn a fourth gold medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, which would have been an Olympic record. However, he failed three attempts at 145 kg<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and was eliminated from the competition.
Süleymanoğlu is the first and only weightlifter to have snatched 2.5 times his body weight and also is the second of only seven lifters to date to clean and jerk three times his body weight.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Failed verification He is the only weightlifter to date to clean and jerk 10 kilos more than triple his bodyweight.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Over the course of his career, Süleymanoğlu has won seven World Weightlifting champion and three Olympic gold medals, and set a total of 51 world records from 1983 to 1996.<ref name="chidlovski"/><ref name="auto"/> Only Vasily Alekseyev and David Rigert have set more world records in weightlifting. Süleymanoğlu was awarded the Olympic Order in 2001.<ref name= DailySabah>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2000 and 2004, he was elected a member of the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame.<ref name="auto"/> Süleymanoğlu is widely considered to have been the best pound-for-pound Olympic weightlifter of all time, and one of the greatest Olympic weightlifters ever.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He is regarded as a national hero in Turkey.<ref name="NYTObit" />
Political career
At the 1999 general elections, Süleymanoğlu stood as an independent candidate to represent Bursa at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. In 2002, he was the candidate of the Nationalist Movement Party for the mayor of Kıraç municipality in Büyükçekmece district of Istanbul Province; he represented the same party in general elections in 2006. Süleymanoğlu was unsuccessful in each of these bids for public office.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Personal life and death
Süleymanoğlu suffered from cirrhosis of the liver.<ref name=hurriyetdailynews>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2009, he was hospitalized for nearly three months.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
On 25 September 2017, Süleymanoğlu was admitted to a hospital due to liver failure.<ref name=hurriyetdailynews /> On 6 October, a liver transplantation was made when a liver donor was found.<ref name=hurriyetdailynews /> On 11 November, he had surgery due to a hemorrhage in the brain and a subsequent edema. He died on 18 November 2017<ref name= DailySabah /> and was interred at the Edirnekapı Martyr's Cemetery in Istanbul.<ref name="h1"/>
After Süleymanoğlu's death, a movie about his life and career, Cep Herkülü: Naim Süleymanoğlu<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> was released in Turkey on November 22, 2019.
Süleymanoğlu's grave was opened on July 4, 2018 for the purpose of extracting a DNA sample. Following his death, a Japanese woman had claimed that her daughter, Sekai Mori, had been fathered by him, and filed a paternity case at a Turkish court.<ref name="h1"/> A DNA test confirmed the paternity claim.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Süleymanoğlu also had three daughters by a Turkish woman.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Major results
Career bests
- Snatch: 152.5 kg in class to 60 kg.
- Clean and jerk: 170.5 kg 1984 in Varna in class to 56 kg.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Clean and jerk: 190.0 kg in class to 60 kg.
- Total: 342.5 kg (152.5 + 190.0) 1988 Summer Olympics in class to 60 kg.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Sinclair points: 504, in theory best lifter for size ever.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
References
External links
Template:Olympic medalists for Turkey Template:Footer Olympic Champions Weightlifting Featherweight Template:Footer World Champions Weightlifting Men Featherweight Template:Authority control
- 1967 births
- 2017 deaths
- Bulgarian male weightlifters
- Turkish male weightlifters
- Bulgarian Turks in Turkey
- Bulgarian emigrants to Turkey
- People from Momchilgrad
- Sportspeople from Kardzhali Province
- Olympic weightlifters for Turkey
- Olympic gold medalists for Turkey
- Weightlifters at the 1988 Summer Olympics
- Weightlifters at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- Weightlifters at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Weightlifters at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Bulgarian defectors
- World record setters in weightlifting
- World record holders in Olympic weightlifting
- Olympic medalists in weightlifting
- Nationalist Movement Party politicians
- European champions for Turkey
- Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics
- Deaths from liver failure
- Burials at Edirnekapı Martyr's Cemetery
- European Weightlifting Championships medalists
- World Weightlifting Championships medalists
- Liver transplant recipients
- Friendship Games medalists in weightlifting
- Mediterranean Games medalists in weightlifting
- Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Turkey
- Competitors at the 1991 Mediterranean Games
- 20th-century Turkish sportsmen
- 20th-century Bulgarian sportsmen
- 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen