The Hindu : Sport / Olympic Games : Hat-trick for Halil Mutlu

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 17, 2004

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Sport - Olympic Games

Hat-trick for Halil Mutlu

ATHENS, AUG. 16. Halil Mutlu of Turkey won his third consecutive Olympic weightlifting gold medal in the 56-kilogram category on Sunday, ignoring his biggest rival's prediction that the `Little Dynamo' was ready to lose, with yet another overpowering performance on the sport's biggest stage.

Mutlu, his career in doubt two years ago following two serious injuries, joined Turkish predecessor Naim Suleymanoglu and Greece's Pyrros Dimas and Khaki Kakiasvilis as three-time weightlifting gold medallists. Both Greek lifters go for their fourth consecutive golds later in this Olympics.

Mutlu so idolised the now-retired Suleymanoglu, the Pocket Hercules, that he patterned his walk after him. When it comes to mimicking Mutlu at 56 kg, no one can compare.

China's Wu Meijin thought he could, as the two-time defending world champion recently called the 30-year-old Mutlu ``old and no longer formidable.'' Guess again.

Amazing record

Mutlu, only 1.50 metres tall yet one of just four men to lift three times his body weight, remained unbeaten against all active weightlifters. He hasn't lost since finishing second at the 1995 worlds, and has won 16 of his last 17 world-level competitions.

Mutlu returned from a year's layoff with a torn rotator cuff and ruptured biceps tendon by winning his fifth world championship last year, at 62 kg, then moved back to the weight where he won Olympic golds in 1996 and 2000.

Meijin tried to keep up, raising his arms and yelling after lifting 130kg on his third try in the snatch. But Mutlu matched that on his first attempt, then took a 5-kilogram lead in the clean and jerk by raising 135kg before missing at 140kg.

Not that it mattered. Mutlu confidently lifted 160kg on his initial lift in the clean and jerk to Wu's 157.5kg, forcing Wu to go up to 164.5kg to stay in it — 5 kilograms more than he lifted while winning the 2003 worlds.

He couldn't do it, and Mutlu's total of 295kg easily topped Meijin's 287.5 even though Mutlu twice missed clean and jerk attempts at higher weights.

Indeed, body weight decided the bronze, as Sedat Artuc, also of Turkey, won over Bulgaria's Vitali Dzerbianiou even though both lifted 280kg; Artuc was nearly half a kilogram lighter. — AP

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