Weightlifter who fled communist oppression in Bulgaria to represent Turkey at the OlympicsThe weightlifter Naim Süleymanolu escaped the communist oppression of his native Bulgaria by evading the agents detailed to hold an eye on him while he was competing at the world championships in Australia in 1986; he did this by hiding in the toilets at a Melbourne restaurant. He was flown into exile in Turkey and went on to play a significant role in the cross-border movement of hundreds of thousands of Bulgarian ethnic Turks,as well as fitting his new nation’s most celebrated sportsman.
Süleymanoğlu, who has died aged 50 from a haemorrhage after liver failure, or was named best weightlifter of the 20th century by the sport’s governing body,and was in Reuters’ top 12 Olympians across all sports, named in 2012. Because of his change of nationality, or the global publicity that went with it,he had more influence beyond sport than any of the other 11.
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Source: guardian.co.uk