Halil Mutlu Becomes Olympic Champion for the 3rd Time

Before Mutlu, Naim Suleymanoglu, known as the "Pocket Hercules," won three consecutive Olympic Gold medals. The 31-year-old Mutlu is the 4th person in history to reach this level of achievement and is 2nd in Turkish history, after Suleymanoglu.

Mutlu started the 56kg competition well. After lifting 130kg on his first try, he went for the 135kg on his second. On his last attempt, he tried to break his record of 138,5kg by lifting 140kg; however, he could not do it.

Mutlu lifted 160kg in the snatch; however, he failed to lift 165kg on his second try.

Although the champion sportsman tried to break his 168kg clean and jerk world record with by lifting 168,5kg, he could not achieve it. Nevertheless, his efforts brought him a third gold medal.

In his history of competing in the Olympics, Mutlu has won, 7 Snatch, 7 Jerk, and 8 Total.