6th anniversary of the passing of the "Pocket Hercules" Naim Süleymanoğlu!

Born on January 23, 1967, in the village of Ahatlı in the Kardzhali region of Bulgaria, Naim Süleymanoğlu once said about how he started weightlifting: "My weightlifting coach Hilmi (Pekünlü) discovered me when I was 9 years old, and that is how I started weightlifting. At that time, world and Olympic champion athletes were emerging from Bulgaria, and I wanted to be a champion too."

Naim Süleymanoğlu, who went down in history not only as an athlete but also for bringing the oppression faced by Turks in Bulgaria to the world's attention, became a youth and junior champion in Bulgaria at the age of 14. At 15, he won his first world championship at the Junior World Weightlifting Championships held in Brazil in 1982, earning the title of "youngest world record holder."

After winning the Senior World Weightlifting Championships in 1983, Naim Süleymanoğlu broke 13 records in the junior category and 50 in the senior category between 1983 and 1986, and was named the world's weightlifter of the year in 1984, 1985, and 1986.

Participating in the "Tournament of Record Holders" held in the USA in 1983, Naim Süleymanoğlu broke a world record there, earning him the nickname "Pocket Hercules" from the Americans.

Süleymanoğlu could not participate in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics because Bulgaria supported the Soviet Union's boycott decision.

On the other hand, Naim Süleymanoğlu went down in history in 1984 as the second weightlifter to lift three times his body weight in the clean and jerk category.

His name was changed, he fled to Turkey

Due to the Bulgarian government's "Revival Process" (Soya dönüş operasyonu), which banned Turkish names, his name was changed to Naum Shalamanov.

Describing his arrival in Turkey—or in his own words, his "escape to Turkey"—as an initiative to announce and end the oppression of Turks living in Bulgaria in the 1980s, Naim Süleymanoğlu had made the world aware that Turks in Bulgaria were being subjected to assimilation at that time.

Regarding his process of coming to Turkey, the "Pocket Hercules" stated: "It was impossible for me to accept the oppression against Turks. I did not want to sweat for those who ignored the Turks. I was going to seek asylum in Turkey. By the end of February 1985-1986, the names of all Turks were changed. My name was now Naum Shalamanov. I won first place at the World Weightlifting Championships held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1986. At the dinner held at the end of the championship on December 10, 1986, I met the people who would take me to the Turkish Consulate."

In 1986, Naim Süleymanoğlu sought asylum by taking refuge in the Turkish Embassy in Australia and was successfully flown from Australia to London in a covert operation. He was then brought to Turkey on a private plane sent by the then-Prime Minister Turgut Özal, and he appeared before the Turkish public for the first time at an enthusiastic welcome and press conference in Ankara.

The Turkish government paid 1 million dollars to Bulgaria so that Naim Süleymanoğlu could compete for Turkey in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

From that date on, Naim Süleymanoğlu competed for Turkey in championships. The late President Turgut Özal's remark regarding the payment is on record: "Naim paid us back many times over. He promoted the Turks to the world."

With Naim Süleymanoğlu's escape to Turkey, it was announced to the world public that Turks living in Bulgaria were being oppressed, that circumcision was banned, that those who performed circumcisions were given prison sentences, and that even graves were being destroyed because of the names on the tombstones.

3 consecutive Olympic championships

Establishing himself among the world's legendary athletes, Naim Süleymanoğlu competed in the men's 60kg category at the 1988 Seoul Olympics in South Korea, where he became champion by breaking 6 world and 9 Olympic records.

By lifting 10 kilos more than 3 times his body weight (190 kilos), the "Pocket Hercules" won the "World's Best Weightlifter" award, going down in history as the only athlete in the world to achieve this.

In addition to the clean and jerk, Naim also lifted 152.5 kilos in the snatch, reaching a total of 342.5 kilos and breaking world and Olympic records.

Naim took his place in history as the first athlete to bring Turkey an Olympic gold medal in a sport other than wrestling.

Naim Süleymanoğlu was also declared the world's best athlete by the International Weightlifting Press Commission in 1992.

The national weightlifter took the podium with 3 consecutive Olympic gold medals by finishing first in the 1988 Seoul, 1992 Barcelona, and 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Throughout his career, Naim Süleymanoğlu also achieved 7 world and 7 European championships, and set 46 world records.

Naim Süleymanoğlu, who took a break from weightlifting in 1996, was unsuccessful in the 2000 Sydney Olympics he participated in afterward and bid farewell to his active sports life. The legendary athlete was known as the number one in weightlifting for 24 years until Sydney.

The first Turkish athlete to be on the cover of Time magazine

Naim Süleymanoğlu, who broke 6 world and 9 Olympic records at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and was chosen as the "World's Best Weightlifter," appeared on the cover of Time magazine on October 3, 1988, with the headline "Everybody Wins."

Invited to the White House by then-US President Ronald Reagan after the European Weightlifting Championships that year, Naim Süleymanoğlu rejected the offer of US citizenship.

In 2000, Naim Süleymanoğlu became the youngest vice president in the world at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF). As part of the 2012 London Olympic Games, his name was given to a station on the London Underground. In 2018, a street in Çankaya was also named "Naim Süleymanoğlu" by the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality.

The film about his life: "Pocket Hercules: Naim Süleymanoğlu"

The film "Pocket Hercules: Naim Süleymanoğlu," which tells the life story of Naim Süleymanoğlu, who left his mark on Turkish sports history, was directed by Özer Feyzioğlu and written by Barış Pirhasan based on the book "My Brother Pocket Hercules," which contains the memoirs of Naim Süleymanoğlu's brother Muharrem Süleymanoğlu, met with audiences on November 22, 2019.

The film covers the years from Naim Süleymanoğlu's introduction to weightlifting at the age of 10 in the 1970s to the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

The legendary national weightlifter passed away at the age of 50 on November 18, 2017, due to liver failure in the hospital where he was being treated. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who took a close interest in Naim Süleymanoğlu, who was hospitalized on September 28, 2017, had visited the legendary athlete in the hospital on October 9, 2017.

In addition to many people from the worlds of politics, business, and sports, his greatest rival during his active sports career, Greek athlete Valerios Leonidis, also attended the funeral prayer held at the Fatih Mosque in Istanbul on November 19, 2017.

Naim Süleymanoğlu was laid to rest at the Edirnekapı Cemetery 6 years ago.

News Source: 12punto