(Commemorative stamp from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics)
Dimensions
- Height: 4ft 10in
- Weight: 62kg (137 lb)
Notable Lifts
- Snatch: 152.5 kg (1988, WR)
- Clean & Jerk: 190.0 kg (1988, WR)
- Total: 342.5 (1988, WR)
(Süleymanoğlu straining to pull a snatch during the 1988 Seoul Olympic games)
Biography
Süleymanoğlu was born as Naim Suleymanov in Ptichar, Kardzhali Province, Bulgaria to an ethnic Turkish family. His father was a miner who stood only five feet tall, while his mother was four-foot-seven. He won championships in his teens and may have competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics had Bulgaria not joined in a boycott by the Eastern Bloc.
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. As a result, Süleymanoğlu changed his name to Naim Suleimanov in 1985. In 1986 the Bulgarian government changed it to Naum Shalamanov. As Naim protested against his name change the government agreed on changing his name back to Naim Suleimanov but as a protest against name changing of the Turkish minority in Bulgaria, Naim defected to Turkey.
While on a trip to the World Cup Final in Melbourne in 1986, Suleimanov escaped his handlers, and after several days in hiding, he defected at the Turkish Embassy in Canberra. After making his way to Istanbul, he changed his name back to Süleymanoğlu.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKsT-zG-w0k
(Footage of Naim preforming his world record lifts at the 1988 Olympics)
In order for him 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. At the Olympics, 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 was 3.15 times his bodyweight, which is the highest ratio clean and jerk to bodyweight of all time. Using the Sinclair Coefficient his performance at the 1988 Seoul Olympics was the most dominating weightlifting performance of all time.[9] His total was high enough to win the weight class above his. He retired at the age of 22, after winning the world championship in 1989. However, he returned in 1991 before winning a second Olympic gold medal at Barcelona in 1992.
The 1996 Olympic Games were to be his swan song and 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 him and Greece’s Valerios Leonidis, with the arena divided into partisan Turkish and Greek crowds. At the end of the competition they were the very 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 guaranteed him the silver medal. Announcer Lynn Jones proclaimed “You have just witnessed the greatest weightlifting competition in history,” according to Ken Jones in the London Independent.
(Naim’s third failed attempt to lift 145 in the snatch at the 2000 Sydney Olympic games)
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, but failed three attempts at 145 kg and was eliminated from the competition. He was awarded the Olympic Order in 2001. In 2000 and 2004, he was elected member of the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame.
(Thousands came and mourned the death of Turkey’s most iconic Athlete)
On 25 September 2017, he was admitted to a hospital due to liver failure. On 6 October, a liver transplantation was made when a liver donor was found. On 11 November, he had surgery due to a hemorrhage in the brain and a subsequent edema. He died on 18 November 2017. He was interred at the Edirnekapı Martyr’s Cemetery in Istanbul. Süleymanoğlu had inspired the country of Tukey to resist the communist regime, and demonstrated his most impressive feats of strength while off the weightlifting platform. While he was not awarded any medals for his acts of bravery, he is instead rewarded with a legacy that will echo throughout the halls of time.
Works Cited
“Biography of Naim Süleymanoğlu”. www.sports-reference.com. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
“Weightlifting Hall of Fame”. International Weightlifting Federation. Archived from the original on 2008-09-13. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
“Naim Suleymanoglu”. www.olympic.org.
“Champion Turkish weightlifter Süleymanoğlu dies at 50”. Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
Naim Suleymanoglu – A Third Gold Medal – Leonidas, World, Competition, and Jones – JRank Articles. Sports.jrank.org. Retrieved on 2014-08-10.