ACOG - News - IBM

(21 July 1996; Day 2)

"Pocket Hercules" Goes For Third Consecutive Gold Tomorrow

The athlete many consider to be the greatest modern weightlifter will step onto the platform to compete tomorrow, looking to extend his stanglehold on the 64kg weight class and take one more step into immortality by becoming the first lifter in history to snare three consecutive Olympic gold medals.

The 29-year old Naim SULEYMANOGLU will retire after tomorrow's competition with a wealth of accolades. SULEYMANOGLU set his first world record as a 14-year -old, and he has not looked back since. In the 15 years since he recorded that mark, he has been crowned a 22-time world champion, a two-time junior world champion and has captured 43 world records along with an undefeated record in Olympic competition.

Already a star when he won his first gold in Seoul in 1988, SULEYMANOGLU captured the hearts of the Turkish people who literally bought him from Bulgaria, his native land, after he defected from the Soviet bloc nation in December of 1986. Turkey paid Bulgaria $1 million so that SULEYMANOGLU could switch his citizenship to Turkey in order to compete in Seoul.

SULEYMANOGLU holds the current world record with his two-lift total of 330kg, set in Istanbul in November of 1984. His personal best mark of 342.5kg clearly outdistances the next -best efforts by any of those who will compete in Atlanta, and also puts him among the top athletes in the 70kg class.

There are others who will compete in the 64kg category, but most have resigned themselves at best to the silver medal. SULEYMANOGLU's closest competitors likely will come from the Chinese, whose top two athletes, XIAO Jiangang and WANG Guohua, have the next best marks, each with a personal best of 330kg. WANG holds the world record in the snatch at 148.5kg, although SULEYMANOGLU's personal record is 152.5kg.

Two Greek athletes follow next, Valerios LEONIDIS and Yorgos TZELILIS, each with personal highs of over 325.0kg. And although LEONIDIS officially holds the world record in the clean and jerk with a mark of 183.0kg, SULEYMANOGLU's personal best is 190.0kg.

So after 17 years of competition, SULEYMANOGLU will pass the torch on to someone else after Atlanta. But he remains the class of the division, and in Atlanta, it is his title to lose.

This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by Brad Laux.


Return to Olympic News Menu

Select another day:
Pre July 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 August 1 2 3 4 Post


Olympic Factoid
Closing Ceremony of the 1996 Games involved a crew of 2,100 who worked with more than 3,500 performers as well as thousands of athletes who celebrated on the field of Olympic Stadium.