WEIGHTLIFTING:

Former Olympic and world weightlifting champion Naim Suleymanoglu has died aged 50 in a hospital in Istanbul He recently underwent a liver transplant.Bulgaria-born Suleymanoglu won three Olympic titles between 1988 and 1996 competing for Turkey, and seven world titles, competing

for Bulgaria and Turkey. He defected while on a training camp in Australia in 1986, slipping away from the group while pretending to visit the restroom at a hotel. He hid in Australia for several days before seeking aslum at the Turkish consulate. Eventually the Bulgarians allowed him to switch nationalities and he kissed the airport tarmac on arrival in Turkey. He competed unsuccessfully for a seat in Turkish parliamentary elections in 1999 and 2007.