Naim Süleymanoğlu

Who is Naim Süleymanoğlu?

Naim Süleymanoğlu was an Olympic weightlifter from Turkey. Naim Süleymanoğlu was a seven-time World Weightlifting champion, three-time Olympic gold medallist, and numerous world record holders. He is also widely regarded as the greatest pound-for-pound Olympic weightlifter of all time.

Naim is also one of the most well-known Olympic weightlifters of all time.

In addition, he was inducted into the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame in 2000 and 2004.

Süleymanolu is the first and only weightlifter to lift 2.5 times his body weight.

Furthermore, the seven lifters could clean and jerk their body weight three times.

Childhood & Education

Süleymanolu was born and raised in Ptichar, Kardzhali Province, Bulgaria, to an ethnic Turkish family (Bulgarian: аим леманoв, romanized: Naim Syulemanov).

The weightlifter’s father was a mineworker who stood just five feet tall, and his mother was four feet seven.

In his adolescence, Naim won numerous competitions.

During the 1984 Summer Olympics, he was the overwhelming favorite to win gold.

Furthermore, Bulgaria had not joined the Eastern Bloc boycott.

The Bulgarian government conducted the Revival Process program in the 1980s.

As a result, the policy obliged ethnic minorities to obtain Slavic names and prohibited them from using their native languages.

As a result, in 1985, Süleymanolu was forced to change his name to Naum Shalamanov (Bulgarian: аум аламанов).

Following these encounters, he elected to leave Bulgaria and maintained encrypted correspondence with the Turkish Squad during this time.

More Facts About Naim Süleymanoğlu

Personality

Naim Süleymanolu Suleymanoglu was noted for his dramatic abilities as well as his cerebral tactics during competitions.

According to a Seattle Post-Intelligencer author, Suleymanglou often sat calmly offstage, waiting his turn to rise.

Competitors, on the other hand, attempted to lift massive quantities of weight in order to defeat them.

When they were fatigued, Suleymanoglu would go out on stage, ask for extra weight to be placed on the bar, and then easily lift it, beating everyone.

Suleymanoglu resigned from the competition after winning his third gold medal in Atlanta, and he reveled in his fame and fortune for a long time.

He appeared in Turkish daily newspapers as much as possible, telling absurd anecdotes about his crazy lifestyle.

Regardless, he chose to make a return and compete in the 2000 Olympic Games in 1999.

So he trained for a year for a fair, sometime recently the Diversions, hoping to earn an unusual fourth gold award.

Naim Süleymanolu | Career Development

To compete in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, the Bulgarian authorities agreed to transfer his qualification to Turkey.

Furthermore, the Turks paid Bulgaria $1.25 million for his release.

At the Olympics, his main rival was an old comrade from the Bulgarian group, Stefan Topurov.

He entered the grab section of the tournament after all of the other competitors had finished and made three successive lifts, setting world records in his final two attempts.

Topurov finished second in the clean and jerk category with a 175.0 kg clean and jerk.

With his next two lifts, Süleymanolu established two more world records and won his first Olympic gold medal.

His final assault was a 190.0 kg clean and jerk that was 3.15 times his body weight, the highest pure and pull-to-body weight ratio of all time.

The weightlifter’s performance at the 1988 Seoul Olympics was the most dominant weightlifting performance of all time, according to the Sinclair coefficient.

Olympic Performance

Naim’s total was sufficient to win the weight class.

After winning the world championship at the age of 22, the weightlifter retired in 1989.

However, Naim returned to the sport in 1991, winning a second Olympic gold medal in 1992 in Barcelona and a third in 1996 in Atlanta.

Naim Süleymanolu completed his final lifting attempt in the Summer Olympics in Sydney in 2000.

His swan song was to be the 1996 Olympic Games, and he quit after winning a third consecutive Olympic gold medal in Atlanta.

The encounter between him and Greek Valerios Leonidis in that competition was famous, with the field divided into partisan Turkish and Greek crowds.

After the competition, they were the only competitors left after exchanging three consecutive world-record lifts; Süleymanolu oversaw lifting 187.5 kg.

Leonidis then failed in his attempt to lift 190 kg, earning him the silver medal.

Süleymanolu made another comeback in a late attempt to capture a fourth gold medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

It would have established an Olympic record. Süleymanolu, on the other hand, botched three shots at 145 kg and was eliminated from the tournament.

Hall of Fame

In 2001, the weightlifter was also given the Olympic Order.

In addition, he was inducted into the Worldwide Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame in 2000 and 2004.

He ran as a free candidate in the 1999 general election.

He also represented Bursa at the Grand National Gathering in Turkey.

Naim was the Patriot Development Party’s candidate for mayor of Kraç municipality in Istanbul Province’s Büyükçekmece district in 2002.

In 2006, he represented the same party in general decisions. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful in all of his attempts.

Olympic Gold Medalist

Suleymanoglu competed for the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

Valerio’s Leonidas, a Greek lifter, was the first to compete.

As a result, they had a very close duel in which they set world records one after the other.

In addition, Suleymanoglu set a world record of 185 kg, which Leonidas surpassed with 187.5 kg.

The pressure was now on Suleymanoglu to organize Leonidas’ lift for the gold. And he did, tying Leonidas’ world record just moments after it was established.

According to Insight Jones in the London Free, commentator Lynn Jones declared, “You’ve seen the most notable weightlifting competition in history.”

With this gold medal, Suleymanoglu became the only weightlifter in history to win gold medals in three different Olympics.

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Accomplishments

• Born in Bulgaria in 1967 (Kigali)
• 1977: I attended a training school.
• Naim sets the first world record in 1982.
• 1984: He did not attend the Olympic Games due to his country’s boycott.
• Defects from Bulgaria to Turkey in 1986
• 1988: Gold medalist at the Seoul Olympics
• 1990: He retires but quickly returns to competition.
• 1992: Olympic gold medalist in Barcelona.
• 1996: Gold medalist at the Atlanta Olympics
• 2000: He competes in the Sydney Olympics but fails to lift a single weight.
• Retires from competition in 2000.

Life & Relationships

Süleymanolu did not marry. Cirrhosis has caused liver failure in the great weightlifter.

As a result, he was admitted to a hospital in Istanbul. He died at the age of 50.

He does, however, have four children, all of whom are females.

Although the circumstances of their birth and moms are unknown, Naim is their father.

Esin Süleymanolu, Sezin Süleymanolu, Nilay Süleymanolu, and Sekai Mori are his daughters.

Although Sekai Mori was not considered one of his offspring until 2018, DNA testing revealed that she is the late champion’s daughter.

Because of his small stature, the athlete was dubbed “Pocket Hercules.”

Finally, he became a global celebrity after setting six world championship records and winning three Olympic gold medals.

Not only that, but he rose to prominence after lifting the renowned victor of the weight class above him at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

After winning the world title in 1988, he retired at the age of 22.

Death and Aftermath Controversy

He did, however, have liver cirrhosis for a long time.

Finally, in 2009, he spent around three months in the clinic.

When a liver donor was located, he underwent liver transplantation on October 6.

Following that, on November 11, he underwent surgery due to bleeding in the brain and consequent edema.

As a result, he died on November 18, 2017.

He was laid to rest in Istanbul’s Edirnekap Martyrs Cemetery.

Following his death, a film about his life and career, Cep Herkülü: Naim Süleymanolu, was released.

Finally, on November 22, 2019, the film was released in Turkey.

After his death, a Japanese lady claimed that he had a girl named Sekai Mori with him.

She then filed a paternity suit in a Turkish court.

As a result, Süleymanolu’s grave was opened on July 4, 2018, in order to collect a DNA sample.

Similarly, a DNA test confirmed her assertion. He also had three daughters with a Turkish woman.

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Net worth of Naim Süleymanoglu

The weightlifter has also amassed an enormous fortune throughout the course of his career.

Furthermore, Naim’s net worth has ranged from $1 million to $5 million since the start of his profession.

As a result, he is one of the wealthiest athletes.

As a result, his estimated net worth exceeds $5 million.

As a result, he earns more than a million dollars per year.

Aside from that, the athlete made a good living from sponsorship deals.

As a result, numerous well-known brands and businesses routinely support the game.