For fans of the 4-foot-11 mass of muscle known as the "Pocket Hercules," stature isn't a function of height.
Turkey's Naim Suleymanoglu made history Monday by becoming the first lifter ever to win a third Olympic gold medal. Though he lifts in the 141-pound division, he was a giant to the dozens of Turks and Turkish-Americans cheering him on."He is the biggest!" declared Gazi Aydin, a Turkish-born jeweler who lives in Atlanta.
"We love him very much. We are so proud of him, man," said Tolga Ozbakan, a Turk now studying at Georgia Tech.
Ten lifters had tried previously for a third Olympic gold - and failed. An 11th, super heavyweight Alexander Kurlovich of Belarus, will give it a go next week.
Suleymanoglu, an idol in Turkey since he won his first gold medal at the 1988 Olympics, broke his own world record by combining to lift 7381/2 pounds in the snatch and clean-and-jerk.
In the clean-and-jerk, he tied the world record set a few moments earlier by silver medalist Valerios Leonidis of Greece when he lifted 4131/2 pounds. He lifted 325 pounds in the snatch.
At the medal ceremony, Suleymanoglu shook hands with Leonidis and then kissed him on both cheeks. It was a significant gesture, because Greece and Turkey nearly went to war in January after Turkey laid claim to an uninhabited island in the eastern Aegean Sea that Athens says is Greek.
"We are very good friends," Suleymanoglu said.
Xiao Jiangang, 23, of China won the bronze with a total of 7103/4 pounds. Yorgos Tzelilis of Greece had the same total, but Xiao won by virtue of lighter body weight.
Capsules of Monday's events at the Summer Olympics:
Baseball
Warren Morris hit a three-run homer to lead the United States over South Korea 7-2 Monday night. The United States improved to 2-0 in the round-robin tournament, while South Korea fell to 0-2.
Equestrian
Bruce Davidson's dressage test helped the United States hold its lead over New Zealand after two days of the three-day event.
Fencing
Americans Margaret Paxton and Felicia Zimmerman lost first-round bouts in women's foil, while Ann Marsh made it to the quarterfinals before being ousted. Cliff Bayer, Peter Devine and Eric Bravin of the United States all lost in the first round of men's foil.
Field hockey
The U.S. women squandered a 2-0 lead before Barb Marois fired the winner with the last hit of the match to give the Americans a 3-2 victory over South Korea. The U.S. men stayed winless in 25 Olympic games with a 5-2 loss to Argentina.
Gymnastics
Perennial power Russia won the gold medal in the men's team competition, and the improving United States finished fifth. The Americans, who finished a distant 6.525 points from a medal in Barcelona, wound up .923 short of a bronze this time.
Judo
Brian Olson became the first American judo winner in the games when he beat Wu Kuo Hui of Taiwan in the first round of the middleweight competition. But Olson was eliminated by Lithuanian Algimantas Merkevicius in the second round.
Liliko Ogasawara, the United States' top chance for a medal, lost twice and became one of three American women eliminated. Sandra Bacher lost to Hannah Ertel of Germany in the first round and Rene Capo was defeated by Mevlud Lobjanidze of Georgia.
Rowing
U.S. hopes for a gold in women's rowing almost sank when the favored crew in eights lost its qualifying race by a length to Belarus. The loss meant the United States will have to row Wednesday in the repechage.
In another prelim at Lake Lanier, the defending world champion Dutch men's eight advanced to Friday's semifinal along with the United States, looking for its first gold since 1964.
Shooting
American Rob Harbison lost a chance at a bronze medal on his final shot in the men's 10-meter air rifle. The 8.6 score, Harbison's worst, dropped him from third to seventh in the field of eight finalists.
Soccer
Jovan Kirovski and Brian Maisonneuve scored goals as the U.S. men beat Tunisia 2-0 in Birmingham, Ala.
Softball
Dot Richardson, the oldest member of the squad at age 34, hit a three-run homer and 18-year-old Christa Williams, the youngest player on the team, threw a two-hitter in a 9-0 victory over the Netherlands.
Volleyball
Unheralded Holland gave the U.S. women a scare, but Tara Cross-Battle's powerful spikes and all-around court presence helped the Americans rally for a 12-15, 15-10, 17-15, 15-7 victory.
Water polo
Chris Humbert scored three goals as the United States beat Ukraine 9-7 Monday to virtually clinch a spot in the quarterfinals.
Wrestling (Greco-Roman)
Four of the five Americans were prelims winners. Gordy Morgan was a 10-0 winner over Rudolfo Hernandez of Mexico at 163 pounds. Brandon Paulson pinned Joel Basaldua of Peru in 1:36 at 1141/2 pounds. David Zuniga, a 1361/2-pounder, won 3-2 over Ainsley Robinson of Canada. Super heavyweight Matt Ghaffari defeated Shermukhammad Kudiyev of Uzbekistan 7-1. Derrick Waldroup fell into the losers' bracket with a 3-0 loss to Alexander Sidorenko of Belarus.
Yachting
Off the coast of Savannah, Ga., American skipper Jeff Madrigali and his crew of Jim Barton and Kent Massey won the Soling race by 51/2 seconds over Russia. Only three of 16 scheduled races were completed before a severe thunderstorm forced postponement of the rest of the day's events.