Naim Suleymanoglu Bulgarian and Turkish weightlifter Date of Birth: 23.01.1967 Country: Turkey

Biography of Naim Suleymanoglu

Born on January 23, 1967, in Momchilgrad, Bulgaria, Naim Suleymanoglu was a Bulgarian and Turkish weightlifter of Turkish descent. Despite his short stature of 1.47m, he earned the nickname "Pocket Hercules." Suleymanoglu started his journey in weightlifting at a young age, joining the city's weightlifting team and competing in his first competitions at the age of eight.

By the age of 14, Suleymanoglu was officially part of the Bulgarian national team. In 1982, at the young age of 15, he broke the world record in the 52kg weight category. The following year, he participated in his first World Championship in Moscow, where he won the silver medal, narrowly missing out on the gold to Oksen Mirzoyan, the Olympic champion of 1988, by just 2.5kg.

Due to political boycotts, Suleymanoglu was unable to compete in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California. He instead participated in the "Druzhba-84" series of international competitions in Moscow, where he unofficially became recognized as the Olympic champion, outperforming the actual gold medalist.

In the mid-1980s, Bulgaria underwent a period of "national revival," which led to many Bulgarians changing their surnames, including Suleymanoglu. As his ancestors were Turkish, he was forced to change his passport name to "Naum Shalamanov." Unhappy with the political situation in Bulgaria, Suleymanoglu began considering becoming a citizen of another country. In 1985, he became the world champion in Södertälje, Sweden, outlifting the silver medalist by a significant margin of 15kg.

In 1986, Suleymanoglu traveled to Australia for an international competition and decided to sever all ties with socialist Bulgaria. While his teammates returned home, he fled to Turkey, leaving his family behind as they faced constant interrogation and restrictions in Bulgaria. Suleymanoglu, once a source of national pride, was labeled a traitor.

With the fall of the socialist system in Bulgaria in the late 1980s, Suleymanoglu's family was finally able to join him in Turkey. From then on, representing Turkey, he won the Olympic gold medal in Seoul, Korea, in 1988 and became a five-time consecutive world champion from 1989 to 1995. Despite announcing his retirement from the sport in 1990, Suleymanoglu made a comeback in 1991 and went on to win two more Olympic gold medals for Turkey before finally retiring.

After his retirement, Suleymanoglu ventured into business and became a consultant for the Turkish weightlifting team. He also made unsuccessful attempts to enter the political world, running for the Turkish parliament and mayorship of a suburb of Istanbul. In 2001, he was awarded the Olympic Order for his achievements.