Turkish weightlifting legend dies aged 50

TURKEY, (ARCHIVE FOOTAGE) - Turkey’s weightlifting legend Naim Suleymanoglu died on Saturday in Istanbul at the age of 50. Bulgarian-born Suleymanoglu was admitted to the Memorial Atasehir Hospital on Sept. 28 due to liver failure caused by cirrhosis and underwent a liver transplant on Oct. 6. He remained in intensive care following a brain hemorrhage and underwent further surgery on Nov. 11, according to a medical statement. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered his condolences in his address at Justice and Development (AK) party's ordinary congress in his hometown Rize. Suleymanoglu, who was nicknamed Pocket Hercules due to his 1.47 meters (4 feet 10 inches) frame, was the first ever weightlifter to claim gold at three different Olympic Games. “He dominated the sport for over a decade and by the time he finished his career, he had set an astonishing 46 world records,” according to the Olympic website. Suleymanoglu set a record with a lift of 190 kilograms (419 pounds) in the clean and jerk in the 1988 Olympics.