Naim Süleymanoğlu (changed name in Bulgaria: Naum Şalamanov; born 23 January 1967, Kardzhali – died 18 November 2017, Istanbul) is a Bulgarian Turkish weightlifter. He is considered by many authorities to be the greatest weightlifter of all time. Naim Süleymanoğlu, known as the Pocket Hercules because of his small size but very strong structure, is also known as the Turkish Superman.
Weightlifting career
He started weightlifting in 1977, when he was ten years old. At the age of fifteen, he became the champion by winning two gold medals at the World Junior Weightlifting Championships held in Brazil. At the age of sixteen, he broke the record and became the champion again. Thus, he became the youngest world record holder in weightlifting history. During his career, he has three Olympic gold medals, seven world championships and six European championships. He broke the world record 46 times. In 1984 (at 16 years old), he made history as the second weightlifter to lift three times his body weight in the clean and jerk category.
Between 1983 and 1986, he broke 13 records, 50 for juniors and 63 for adults, and again in this period, he won the championships in the world and European championships in 52, 56 and 60 kilos. He was named world weightlifter of the year in 1984, 1985 and 1986. He could not participate in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics due to Bulgaria's boycott with the Soviets. During this period, his name was changed to Naum Shalamanov due to the Bulgarian Government's ban on Turkish names as part of the Operation Return to Heredity.
In order to get rid of these pressures in Bulgaria and to participate in the competitions on behalf of Turkey, he took refuge in the Turkish embassy at the World Weightlifting Championship held in Melbourne in 1986 and took refuge in Turkey. Turgut Özal himself was involved in his asylum and bringing him to Turkey.
Naim Süleymanoğlu died at the age of 18 in the hospital where he was treated on November 2017, 50.
Political career
Naim Suleymanoglu; In the 2004 local elections, Büyükçekmece's candidate for the Mayor of Kıraç Municipality from the MHP was again a candidate for the MHP in the 2007 Turkish general elections in Istanbul, but was not elected in either of them.
Private life
Born in Bulgaria on January 23, 1967, Naim Süleymanoğlu started weightlifting in 1977. At the age of 15, he became the champion by winning two gold medals in 52 kg at the World Junior Weightlifting Championships held in Brazil. At the age of sixteen, he broke the record and became the champion again. Thus, he received the title of “youngest world record holder in weightlifting history”.
In the tournament held in Vienna in 1983, he broke the world records in 56 kilos as 130,5 kilos in snatch, 165 in clean and jerk and 295 kilos in total. He then broke these records himself. He participated in the world championship in 1986 in the 60 kilo category and became the world champion by increasing his total record to 335 kilos. At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, he again broke records in the 60-kilo category (342,5 kg in total). With the magnificent success of Naim Süleymanoğlu in Seoul, he became the first athlete to win a gold medal in Turkey in the Olympics other than wrestling.
He was named world weightlifter of the year in 1984, 1985 and 1986. Süleymanoğlu, who could not participate in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics due to Bulgaria's participation in the boycott alongside the Soviet Union, disappeared for a while at the World Weightlifting Championships held in Melbourne, Australia in 1986 in order to escape the pressures in his country. When he emerged, the athlete took refuge in the Turkish embassy and requested to live in Turkey and compete on behalf of the Turkish national team, and after his request was accepted, he took the name Naim Süleymanoğlu.
Naim Süleymanoğlu, who returned home with a gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics by gaining an overwhelming advantage over his opponents, was selected as the “Best Athlete in the World” by the International Weightlifting Press Commission that year. In addition to winning three gold medals at the 1993 World Championships, the weightlifter broke two world records, and broke three world records at the 1994 European Weightlifting Championships in Bulgaria with only three lifts.
He was still injured at the world championships in China and won three gold medals. Naim Süleymanoğlu was elected as the vice president at the congress of the International Weightlifting Federation held in Athens in December 2000.
Death
Süleymanoğlu, who was treated for liver failure due to cirrhosis, underwent a surgical liver transplant on October 6, 2017. It was announced that Süleymanoğlu, who was taken to brain surgery due to edema due to cerebral hemorrhage after the transplant, was in danger of life. Naim Süleymanoğlu, who was treated in the intensive care unit since then, died at the age of 18 on 2017 November 50. He was buried in.
After Süleymanoğlu's death, a Japanese girl named Sekai Mori, who came from Japan, filed a genetic lawsuit claiming that she was Süleymanoğlu's daughter. Süleymanoğlu's grave was opened on July 4, 2018, with a court decision, and a sample was taken for DNA testing. As a result of the DNA test, it was concluded that Sekai Mori is Süleymanoğlu's daughter. It turned out that Sekai Mori was from a Japanese woman, whom Süleymanoğlu had sex with in Japan, where he went to weightlifting competitions.
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