Naim Süleymanoğlu

Naim Süleymanoğlu (born January 23, 1967 in Momchilgrad, Bulgaria), formerly known as Naim Suleimanov (Bulgarian: Наим Сюлейманов), is a Turkish World and Olympic Champion in weightlifting. He won three Olympic Championships, seven World Championships and six European Championships and earned 46 world records. Born in Bulgaria of Turkish descent, he was nicknamed "The Pocket Hercules" due to his small stature of 1.47 m (4 ft 10 in). He is the second of only seven lifters to clean and jerk three times their bodyweight. Suleimanov set his first world record at the age 16 but missed his first chance at Olympic success in 1984 when Bulgaria joined the Soviet boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Soon afterwards the Communist regime in...