Halil Mutlu (born Halil Aliev () on 14 July 1973 in Postnik,

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

) is a former professional Turkish weightlifter with several World and

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

championship titles. Mutlu is one of the five weightlifters who has achieved three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games. His weightlifting career includes five World championships, nine European championships and more than 20 world records at , and combined.

Career

In 1994, he won both the European and world championships, titles that would soon become commonplace for him. He made his first Olympic appearance in 1992 in the 52 kg category and finished fifth. In 1996, in the 54 kg category, the reigning world champion and world record holder, Mutlu broke the world record in the snatch and went on to win the gold medal by 7.5 kg. At the 1999 World Championships he beat silver medal winner Adrian Jigău by around 20 kg and set a new world record. He remained undefeated until the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, where he was even more dominant than he had been in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. This time he set world records in both the snatch and the clean and jerk and won by 17.5 kg in the 56 kg category. He was suffering from a shoulder injury in 2003 and temporarily moved to the 62 kg class. His career appeared in doubt after a torn right

rotator cuff The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the human shoulder and allow for its extensive range of motion. Of the seven scapulohumeral muscles, four make up the rotator cuff. The four muscles are the supraspi ...

and ruptured biceps

tendon A tendon or sinew is a tough, high-tensile-strength band of dense fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone. It is able to transmit the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system without sacrificing its ability ...

sidelined him for most of 2002. Mutlu dominated in his weight class since mid-1990s. By the time of the Athens Olympics in 2004, Mutlu won the world championship five times, although he had missed the 2002 season because of injury. In Athens he out lifted

Wu Meijin Wu Meijin (; born April 25, 1980 in Ruian, Zhejiang) is a Chinese weightlifter who competed in the Men's 56 kilogram weight class at the 2004 Summer Olympics and won the silver medal, lifting 287.5 kilograms in total. He is the 2002 and 200 ...

of China by 5 kg in the snatch and then extended his lead in the jerk to earn victory by 7.5 kg. At 31, he captured his third consecutive gold medal at the Olympics in Athens.

Steroid ban

In 2005, Mutlu was banned from international competition by the International Weightlifting Federation for 2 years for use of anabolic steroid

Nandrolone Nandrolone, also known as 19-nortestosterone, is an androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) which is used in the form of esters such as nandrolone decanoate (brand name Deca-Durabolin) and nandrolone phenylpropionate (brand name Durabolin). Nandrolon ...

, although he insists that he never knowingly took steroids. The Turkish Weightlifting Federation itself had been suspended by the IWF for "repeated anti-doping violations" until May 2006. He pulled out of the 2008 Beijing Olympics stating that he was not able to "lift my targeted weight in practice." As a penalty, he was expelled from the ASKI.

Personal life

Mutlu is married and has lived in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

, Turkey since the early 1990s. He is a member of the Konya Kombassan Club in

Konya Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it ...

and is coached by Ibrahim Elmali. Beside weightlifting, Mutlu enjoys

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

Highlights

*World junior champion (1993), *Five-time world champion (2003, 2001, 1999, 1998, 1994 - 1st; 1995, 1993 - 2nd.), *Nine-time European champion (2005, 2003, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994), *25 gold medals (8 Snatch, 8 Clean and Jerk, 9 Total) in total at European Championships, winner of the most gold medals second after David Rigert with 27 gold medals, *Only fourth weightlifter to win three Olympic gold medals (2004, 2000, 1996), *Named as the "Sportsman of the year 1999" in Turkey, *He is one of five men in history to lift three times his bodyweight,

Major results

Medals

Olympics World Championships European Championships *CWR: Current world record *WR: World record

References

External links

* *
Halil Mutlu
at Lift Up
Halil Mutlu
at Database Weightlifting * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mutlu, Halil 1973 births Living people Bulgarian Turks in Turkey Bulgarian emigrants to Turkey People from Momchilgrad Turkish male weightlifters Olympic weightlifters of Turkey Olympic gold medalists for Turkey Weightlifters at the 1992 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1996 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 2000 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 2004 Summer Olympics World record holders in Olympic weightlifting Olympic medalists in weightlifting Doping cases in weightlifting European champions in weightlifting Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics European champions for Turkey Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics European Weightlifting Championships medalists World Weightlifting Championships medalists