A Pocket Full of PowerIn a Herculean performance, Naim Suleymanoglu of Turkey made Olympic weightlifting historyby Michael Bamberger
THE LITTLE guy popped up the five steps leading to the platform, the handrail practically at his shoulder. Naim Suleymanoglu of Turkey—Pocket Hercules, so-called—is five feet tall standing on his stubby toes and weighs just under the 141-pound weight-class limit.
He dipped his hands in a chalk bin and dangled them over a bar weighted down with 325 pounds. He had already hoisted 319-1/2 pounds in his first snatch lift. He had already failed at 325 in his second. Last chance in the snatch. Last chance, in all likelihood, to become the first weightlifter to win gold medals in three consecutive Olympics.
On his last snatch attempt, Suleymanoglu held up under pressure.
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Yes, there was still the clean-and-jerk portion of the competition, but what would it mean if he couldn't lift 325 in the snatch? Nothing, nothing. He would be too far behind to make up the difference in the jerk. Yes, sure, he would still be Turkey's most celebrated athlete, a living monument to strength and will and the power of monetary influence. (Turkey paid Bulgaria $1 million to allow Suleymanoglu to become a Turkish citizen in time for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.) At 29, he could still attempt to embark on his next career, to become the next Arnold Schwarzenegger. But what would a silver or bronze finish do to his innate swagger? Would his status as Pocket Hercules be diminished?
His allotted minute over the bar ticked away until there were only 14 seconds remaining. He opened his mouth and a guttural noise erupted from deep in his belly. He got the bar to his navel, and his mouth snapped shut. Then he pushed the bar to his forehead, and a cryptic little smile came to his face. He knew he would make it the rest of the way, and he did.
Suleymanoglu's countrymen waved their red-and-white, moon-and-a-star flags and broke out into song—the Village People's anthem, YMCA. There was rejoicing in the stands and on the platform. Triumph belonged to Pocket Hercules and his people. Or so it seemed. Then came the jerk.
It wasn't supposed to be this way, but there it was. Valerios Leonidis of Greece, 30 and running out of chances, lifted 413-1/4 pounds in his second attempt, setting a world record. His countrymen, seated across from the Turks, began waving their blue-and-white flags. Now it was Suleymanoglu's turn to match Leonidis, and he did, on his third and last jerk. More flag-waving, more cheering. The scriptwriters were enchanted, for Leonidis had one more lift, and if he could raise an audacious figure—418-3/4 pounds—gold would be his.
The chalk dust that Suleymanoglu's pumping fist had sent into the air of the subterranean hall of the Georgia World Congress Center after his final lift had long since settled. His little finger-nod to the judges, the hug from his coach, none of that mattered. The Greek lifter hunched over the bar. He got it off the ground but not above his head. Suleymanoglu closed his eyes in ecstacy. His total, 335 kilograms (738-1/2 pounds), was a world record. A third gold was his.
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SI Olympic Dailies
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