Featherweight (≤60 kilograms), Men

Although Naim Süleymanoğlu had considered retiring after the 1988 Olympics, he had reached legendary status in Turkey, and felt he could not retire. He won the 1989 World Championships and then did announce he would stop competing, citing a back injury. He watched Bulgarian lifter Nikolay Peshalov win the 1990 World Championships which inspired Süleymanoğlu to resume competition. He won the 1991 World Championships but at the 1992 Europeans, three months before Barcelona, Peshalov and Süleymanoğlu tied for first with Peshalov winning on lower bodyweight, Süleymanoğlu’s first defeat in almost nine years. However, it was not close in Barcelona as Süleymanoğlu won the gold medal by 15 kg over Peshalov, followed by China’s He Yingqiang, who had been the silver medalist at Seoul in 1988.

Süleymanoğlu would keep competing and win the event at the 1996 Olympics, the 1993-95 World Championships, and the 1994-95 European Championships. At Sydney in 2000 he tried to become the first lifter to win four consecutive gold medals, but missed all three attempts in the snatch and was out. That event was won by Peshalov, who had also won a bronze medal at Atlanta in 1996 as a bantamweight.