Triple Olympic gold medalist “Pocket-Hercules” died at the age of 50
By : AHMET ABDULAZIZ……...
On 18th November 2017, Naim Süleymanoğlu, one of the best weightlifters of all times, took his last breath in hospital in Istanbul.
He died of liver failure. He had been in the intensive care unit of the hospital since September 28th. He received a liver transplant later on, but could not survive.
Born to Turkish parents in Bulgaria, Naim Suleymanoglu came into the limelight when he defected to Turkey in September 1986, while representing Bulgaria in the Weightlifting World Cup in Melbourne. Later on he passed the best of his years while representing Turkey in Olympics and other Championships.
He created records by scoring a hat-trick of consecutive Olympic titles from 1988 to 1996. He took his first gold medal in the Seoul Olympics in 1988, followed by another gold in Barcelona in 1992 and the third one in Atlanta in the year 1996. His unprecedented efforts made him a national hero of Turkey.
He has been dubbed as “Pocket-Hercules”.
