Naim Suleymanoglu

Weightlifting

His adoring throng chanted and cheered his name Monday, waving bright red flags of their homeland. The fans made sure everyone knew their Olympic hero, Naim Suleymanoglu, was from Turkey.

Standing 4-foot-11, Suleymanoglu hoisted 413-1/4 pounds over his head - almost three times his body weight.

Suleymanoglu lifted a grand total of 738-1/2 pounds in two combined lifts to win a record third Olympic gold medal of his legendary career.

He definitely means more than Michael Jordan in his country, considering his impact on the Turkish people. He is a symbol of change - politically and socially.

When the government in Bulgaria was forced to allow one-third of its 900,000 Turks to emigrate to Turkey, it was solely because of Suleymanoglu.

Suleymanoglu was born in the small mountain village of Ptichar in a region of Bulgaria that had the highest concentration of ethnic Turks.

The Bulgarian government lavished him with gifts, money and an apartment during the mid-80’s. But in 1984, it cracked down on the resident Turkish minority after squashing a demonstration.

To rid their country of any trace of Turkish culture, the Bulgarians changed the names on Turkish tombstones to Bulgarian spellings. The living were not spared. Naim Suleymanoglu was asked to become Naum Shulamanov.

He went along with the non-Islamic name until reading a newspaper article that carried a fake interview. He was quoted as saying that he was proud to retake his “true Bulgarian name.” He knew he had to get out.

While at a banquet in Australia, Shulamanov excused himself to go to the bathroom and left, seeking asylum with the Turkish consulate.

Thanks to his fame through weightlifting, the plight of the Turkish minority in Bulgaria became an international issue. Change came, thanks to Suleymanoglu.

Now that’s a real show of strength.