The historic battle for Atlanta Weightlifting gold | Olympic History

In this part of our look at the official film of the Atlanta 1996 Olympics we follow the incredible story from the men's weightlifting event as the historic competition between Turkey's Naim Suleymanoglu and Greece's Valerios Leonidis leads to an amazing final where world records continued to be broken in the quest for Olympic gold.
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[JamesFischer_]

we Turks have recently lost Naim because of cerebral hemorrhage. and do you know that Valerios came to his funeral after all these years.. both of them were great sportsmen and gentlemen..

[speezleventis]

RIP Naim! I’m Greek and I have the utmost respect for him! He was a GIANT and a GENTLEMAN!

[angelobc]

I'm a greek man that dreamed of the day that Turkey would be awarded the Olympic games so that the whole world would get a chance to see Naim get his chance to light the Olympic cauldron. It speaks to the kind of athlete and the kind of man that Naim Suleymanoglu was. He was the purest lifter ever and the greatest example of sportsmanship. He would have won 4 olympic gold medals in 4 olympiads if the land of his birth did not boycott the 1984 games. Politics got in the way once again. Thanks for the memories, Naim. You touched a lot of lives and inspired many people. RIP.

[bulutttbulutovic]

-i said ''naim you are the best'' and he said''no valerios we are both the best''
what a gentlemens..

[gianniskerdelas]

Every great champion needs a strong rival. Valerius was the only one that pushed the legend to his limits. Because he is a legend too. Naim was a champion out of this world and won everything without competition. Valerius was the one that could stand next to him, compete with him, end even if he was a little more lucky win him.. He didn’t.. but he was not unlucky. They offered the world the most amazing contest in weightlifting history with world records breaking one after another. They became best friends, they respected each other. And when Valerius told him “Naim you re the best” he replied “No Valerius, we are both the best”.
Rest In Peace Naim. Here in Greece we love you.

[yft]

"no valerios, we are both the best" that's kindness what we need

[gascoignegs]

I was 11 years old when I saw this, in a Turkish coastal town on the Aegean sea. It was night time, and we could see the lights of the Greek island of Kos. We knew that they were watching it too. We were seperated by a small strait of sea, yet two competitors from both countries were writing history while the whole world held its breath.

I remember the incredible silence before every lift, and the glory after each succesful Naim attempt, our joy after the final unsuccesful lift of Leonidis. Everyone, literally everyone was crying.

It's been more than 20 years, and I've watched this video maybe more than 50 times, but it takes me to that day each time I see it and I still get cramps in my stomatch every time I watch it.

Teşekkürler Naim, epharisto poli Valerios !

[ansumanpattanaik]

This is nothing less than a legendary movie.. Narration and explanation is classy...

[omerbayrak]

Leonidis came to Naim's funeral and kissed his coffin. What a beautiful man Leonidis is. I truly respect Leonidis and would like to see him when he is alive. From Turkey

[IlluminousSwins]

I came to tears at the end. Turks and Greeks are friends, Love in the Aegean

[spacetragedy]

Naim and Leonidis became close friends over the years and Leonidis attended Naim's funeral on November 19. 2017. True sporstsman both of them. Rest in peace Naim Süleymanoğlu, we will always remember you with love and respect.

[atouloupas]

Nice to see that the athletes were friendly to each other, spreading the Olympic spirit. Greece and Turkey have had a lot of clashes and its nice to see that people representing the two countries are modest and they understand the true message of Olympic sports: peace and sportsmanship between them. Love from Greece to our beautiful neighbour, Turkey!

[TurkishHardcore]

The level of sportsmanship is incredible. Leonidis came to Naim's funeral today to bid farewell to his old friend. Much respect.

[BLUTOV]

I was there....one of the greatest sport moments I ever seen live. 

[lactobacillusacidophilus]

This is one of the best olympic competitions ever. Such legendary competitors, Suleymanoglu and Leonidis are truly weightlifting gods.

[andrewsvega]

Bravo Naim. Bravo Valerios. You are both the best.

[anna-mariam]

Valerios looks more human but he pushes himself to the limits. Naim looks like a miracle of nature . Both were great examples for human motivation

[chris-qeyc]

as a Greek i would like Valerios to be the gold metal winner, , , but the mutual respect and the superhuman will of both athletes gave me an equal pleasure, despite the fact that Naim won, , , and he truly deserved it !!!! beautiful video

[ΜενελαοςΚαλπιας]

Respect to Suleymanoglu great athlete and great personality respect

[dr.banner]

I was there in the crowd. I was 18 at the time. My dad is blatantly in the video. He is the guy in the red shirt holding a small black megaphone in front of the Turkish crowd.  Although dead quiet during the actual lifts, the crowd was singing and chanting with overflowing energy at all other times. It was awesome.