ANKARA (Dispatches) - Naim Suleymanoglu, a Turkish weightlifter who won three Olympic gold medals and was known as "Pocket Hercules,” died Saturday at an Istanbul hospital. He was 50.
The cause was cirrhosis of the liver. He had received a liver transplant in October, according to Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency.
Mr. Suleymanoglu was considered one of weightlifting’s greatest athletes and earned his nickname for his strength and diminutive size. He won three straight Olympic gold medals for Turkey between 1988 and 1996.
Standing 4 feet 10 inches tall and weighing about 135 pounds, the Bulgarian-born strongman could lift three times his weight.
He came out of retirement to try for a fourth gold at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 but missed all three of his lifts.
"I know only gold,” Mr. Suleymanoglu had said as he returned to competition. "I do not know about silver or bronze.”
He also won seven world and six European championships.
**** Suleymanoglu at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.