Halil Mutlu

Halil Mutlu (born Huben Hubenov on July 14, 1973 in Postnik, Bulgaria) is a Turkish World and Olympic Champion in weightlifting. He won three Olympic Championships, five World Championships, nine European Championships and broke more than 20 world records at 52kg, 54kg and 56kg 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 52kg category and finished fifth. In 1996, in the 54kg 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 7.5kg. At the 1999 World Championships he beat silver medal winner Adrian Ioan Jigau by around 20kg 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. This time he set world records in both the snatch and the clean and jerk and won by 17.5kg in the 56kg category.

Related Topics:
1994 - 1992 - 1996 - Snatch - 1999 - Adrian Ioan Jigau - 2000 Olympics in Sydney - Atlanta - Clean and jerk

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He was suffering from a shoulder injury in 2003 and temporarily moved to the 62kg class. His career appeared in doubt after a torn right rotator cuff and ruptured biceps tendon sidelined him for most of 2002.

Related Topics:
2003 - Rotator cuff - Tendon - 2002

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Mutlu dominated in his weight class since mid 1990s. But prior to Athens, several experts became skeptical that Mutlu would be able to pass his younger and more aggressive opponents at the Olympics in 2004. 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 Meijin Wu of China by 5kg in the snatch and then extended his lead in the jerk to earn victory by 7.5kg. At 31, he captured his third consecutive gold medal at the Olympics in Athens and announced that he is ready to challenge his opponents at the next Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Related Topics:
Athens - Meijin Wu - China - Beijing Olympics in 2008

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