Greece's Leonidis bids farewell to friend and rival Naim Süleymanoğlu at funeral

Valerios Leonidis, Greek weightlifting champion who was a friend of deceased Turkish Olympic weightlifting champion Naim Süleymanoğlu and his greatest rival in weightlifting, showed once again the true nature of sportsmanship as he attended the funeral of the "Pocket Hercules" on Sunday.

Leonidis, upon his arrival to the courtyard of the Fatih Mosque in Istanbul, stood before Naim Süleymanoğlu's Turkish flag draped coffin for a moment, and kissed it.

51-year-old Greek athlete's rivalry with Süleymanoğlu in the men's 64 kilogram was a very popular part of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, in which he won the silver medal.
Bulgarian-born Süleymanoğlu died Saturday at the age of 50 in Istanbul after having been placed into intensive care. He was admitted to hospital on Sept. 28 due to liver failure caused by cirrhosis and underwent a liver transplant on Oct. 6. He remained in intensive care following a brain hemorrhage and underwent further surgery on Nov. 11, according to a medical statement.