By Burak Akinci
ANKARA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Turkish multiple World and Olympic weightlifting champion Naim Suleymanoglu died Saturday at the age of 50 after having been placed into intensive care in an Istanbul hospital following a liver transplant.
Bulgarian-born Suleymanoglu was admitted to a private clinic the Memorial on Sept. 28 due to liver failure caused by cirrhosis and underwent a liver transplant on Oct. 6.
But complications developed and the Turkish sports legend remained in intensive care and was fighting for his life following a brain hemorrhage and underwent further surgery on Nov. 11, according to a previous medical statement.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who visited the athlete after his transplant, offered his condolences in his address at the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) party's congress in Turkey's northwestern city of Rize.
Suleymanoglu's body will be laid to rest on Sunday in Istanbul after an official ceremony. Thousands are expected to attend.
The athlete, nicknamed "Pocket Hercules" due to his short stature (1,47 meters) became a global star after setting six world records, winning three Olympic gold medals and outlifting the winner of the weight class above him at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.
Although Suleymanoglu set his first world record when he was 15. He missed his first chance at Olympic success in 1984 when Bulgaria joined the Soviet boycott of the Los Angeles games, at a time when the Warsaw Pact was still alive and kicking.
In 1986 Suleymanoglu defected to Turkey while competing for Bulgaria at the World Cup tournament in Melbourne, Australia, and brought back to Ankara under heavy security measures, making national and international news headlines.
After winning the world championship in 1988, he retired at the age of 22. However, he returned in 1991 to win a second Olympic gold at Barcelona in 1992. Four years later, he finally retired after winning a third Olympic gold at Atlanta Olympics. He competed in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney but failed to win a medal.
In 2000 and 2004 he was elected to the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame. He was awarded the Olympic Order, the highest award of the Olympic movement, in 2001.
Suleymanoglu is the only weightlifter in history to win gold medals in three Olympics. He set records, won gold medals and captivated everyone in Turkey and on an global scale.
"He was not only the best athlete of Turkey but also of the world, he set a total of 46 world records. Let's also not forget that this little man lifted three times his body weight. What a shame to die at such young age," Emre Tilev, CNN Turk TV channel sport commentator said.
The son of a zinc miner from southern Bulgaria which hosts a Turkish minority, Suleymanoglu had very short arms and legs but a massive torso, ideal for weightlifting. He defected at Turkey at age 19, and he did not see his family for two years.
He was cleared to represent Turkey at the 1988 games (56kg) after the Turkish government of the time led by Prime Minister Turgut Ozal, who later become somewhat of a father figure for him, paid Bulgaria 1 million U.S dollars to have his ban lifted.
When the private jet belonging to Ozal landed in capital Ankara, Suleymanoglu knelt and kissed the tarmac and he has remained in the nations affections ever since.
In his first Olympic Games under the Turkish flag in Seoul 1988, his exploits caused a real frenzy in Turkey who had never won an Olympic gold medal in a branch other than wrestling, the traditional sport of the country. When he finished and break several world records, he famously bent over and kissed the bar, something that became his trademark.
His Seoul exploits helped him to become a global star. In Turkey, he became a cult hero whose victory parades drew millions of dollars. The whole of Turkey just could not stop loving him when he said "I'm a Turk" at the Seoul games and there were an estimated one million people to greet him back in his adopted country.
"He was the athlete that draw attention to Turkey when Turkey was unable to win medals at Olympic Games. That was a big boost in Turkey's image everywhere in the world. His power in his branch was uncontested," reacted on CNN Turk TV Hamza Yerlikaya, a two-time Olympic champion in wresting who is now a counselor to Turkish President Erdogan.
In his last interview with the Hurriyet daily, before being admitted to hospital, the iconic athlete lamented on the fact that "young athletes try's of obtain medal and fame by the easy way, through doping, looking for ways to use banned performance-enhancing drugs".
"The only think of ways to eradicate residual effects of banned products that they use. Young people should concentrate on working more in their fields, otherwise they will stain their spirit and their sport," said the "man who lifted the world".
