Naim Suleymanoglu

Two of Olympic weightlifter Naim Suleymanoglu's cousins and their wives crossed from Bulgaria into Turkey as part of a wave of ethnic Turks being deported from their country after protests against discrimination. Suleymanoglu, who defected to Turkey in 1986, won that country's first gold medal in 20 years at last summer's Olympics.

Naim "Pocket Hercules" Suleymanoglu needed but a few seconds to win his third Olympic title in 1996. Miguel Indurain was in the spotlight for three weeks this past summer while he struggled to finish 11th in the Tour de France, more than 14 minutes behind winner Bjarne Riis of Denmark. Yet Suleymanoglu, the extroverted Turkish weightlifter, and Indurain, the modest cyclist from Spain, had much in common. They were national heroes.

The king of weightlifting retained his Olympic crown Tuesday, then accused his rivals of making it too easy. Naim Suleymanoglu, the barely 5-foot-tall "Pocket Hercules" from Turkey, brushed off all challengers and turned the featherweight (up to 132 pounds) contest into a one-man show. Suleymanoglu, who defected from Bulgaria in 1986, hoisted a combined weight of 705 pounds, surpassing the competition by 33 pounds and adding a second Olympic title to his four world crowns.

The king of weightlifting retained his Olympic crown Tuesday, then accused his rivals of making it too easy. Naim Suleymanoglu, the barely 5-foot-tall "Pocket Hercules" from Turkey, brushed off all challengers and turned the featherweight (up to 132 pounds) contest into a one-man show. Suleymanoglu, who defected from Bulgaria in 1986, hoisted a combined weight of 705 pounds, surpassing the competition by 33 pounds and adding a second Olympic title to his four world crowns.

Naim Suleymanoglu was on a mission. His goal was not just to lift more than any other person his weight had ever lifted, his goal was to obliterate from the record books a name he hated--Naum Shalamanov. That was his name before he defected from Bulgaria to Turkey in 1986. That was the Christian name the Bulgarians made him use, instead of the name he preferred, his Moslem name. That, he says, is why he defected.

Naim "Pocket Hercules" Suleymanoglu needed but a few seconds to win his third Olympic title in 1996. Miguel Indurain was in the spotlight for three weeks this past summer while he struggled to finish 11th in the Tour de France, more than 14 minutes behind winner Bjarne Riis of Denmark. Yet Suleymanoglu, the extroverted Turkish weightlifter, and Indurain, the modest cyclist from Spain, had much in common. They were national heroes.

Naim Suleymanoglu, in his first competition since defecting from Bulgaria to Turkey two years ago, broke the snatch world record in winning the 60-kilogram (132-pound) title at the European weightlifting championships Thursday. Suleymanoglu, 20, arrived in Cardiff amid a strict security operation after Turkish authorities reportedly requested special police protection for the athlete.

Records set in 1996 Games: World Records MEN SWIMMING 100 breaststroke/Prelims Fred Deburghgraeve, Belgium, 1 minute, 00.60 seconds (Old record: 1:00:95, Karoly Guttler, Hungary, August 8, 1993). * WEIGHTLIFTING 59 kg-130 pounds Total -- Tang Ningsheng, China, 307.5 kilograms-678 pounds. (Old record: 305-672, Nikolay Pechalov, Bulgaria, 1993) 64kg-141 pounds Clean-and-Jerk -- Naim Suleymanoglu, Turkey, 187.5 kilograms (413 1/4 pounds) (Old record: 183.

Two of Olympic weightlifter Naim Suleymanoglu's cousins and their wives crossed from Bulgaria into Turkey as part of a wave of ethnic Turks being deported from their country after protests against discrimination. Suleymanoglu, who defected to Turkey in 1986, won that country's first gold medal in 20 years at last summer's Olympics.

Naim Suleymanoglu was on a mission. His goal was not just to lift more than any other person his weight had ever lifted, his goal was to obliterate from the record books a name he hated--Naum Shalamanov. That was his name before he defected from Bulgaria to Turkey in 1986. That was the Christian name the Bulgarians made him use, instead of the name he preferred, his Moslem name. That, he says, is why he defected.

Naim Suleymanoglu, the man they call "Pocket Hercules," wasn't ready to claim that he is the greatest weightlifter of all time, even after winning a record third gold medal. "I'm the first one to do it three times," the 4-foot-11 Turkish lifter said through an interpreter after a world-record performance in the 141-pound division. "Maybe the super heavyweight [Alexander Kurlovich] will do it. You make your own decision."

Greece's Pyrros Dimas joined "Pocket Hercules" Naim Suleymanoglu as one of only two weightlifters to have won three Olympic gold medals. Dimas, one of the showmen of the sport, won a dramatic 187-pound contest in which all three medalists finished with the same total of 639 pounds. In such cases the lightest athlete wins and Dimas, light- middleweight champion in Barcelona and Atlanta, had tipped the scales at 185.3 pounds to Marc Huster's 185.7 and George Asanidze's 186.7.