Turkish Olympic giant Suleymanoglu mourned

ISTANBUL: Hundreds of mourners including his greatest sporting rival attended the funeral of Turkey’s triple Olympic champion Naim Suleymanoglu on Sunday.
Known as the pocket Hercules Suleymangolu, who won three straight Olympic weightlifting titles starting at Seoul 1988, died from liver failure on Saturday aged 50.His great rival and Greek champion Valerios Leonidis was amongst the mourners, kissing the coffin as he passed by.
“I was so upset to hear of Naim’s death. I have lost a great friend and the world has lost a great athlete, I can hardly believe he’s dead,” Leonidis told the Turkish daily HUrriyet.
Turkish sports minister Osman Askin Bak compared Suleymanoglu to some of today’s stars.“In the same way we evoke (Lionel) Messi, (Cristiano) Ronaldo or (Michel) Platini in football, in weighlifting we think of the doyen, the master, the pocket Hercules Naim Suleymanoglu,” he said.
Suleymanoglu’s exploits made him a national hero — he is regarded as one of the greatest sports personalities in the country’s history.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had visited Suleymanoglu in hospital expressed his condolences on live television.