Naim Süleymanoğlu

Naim Süleymanoğlu was born into a Turkish family in Bulgaria. He broke world records as a teenager and in 1986 defected to Türkiye during a competition in Australia.

He won gold at the 1988 Seoul, 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta Olympics, becoming one of the first weightlifters with three Olympic titles. His 190 kg clean and jerk at a bodyweight of 60 kg — more than three times his own weight — became legendary.

Standing 1.47 metres tall, he was called the "Pocket Hercules". He set 46 world records and died in Istanbul in 2017.