ANKARA, Turkey — Weightlifting legend Naim Suleymanoglu, who passed away in November at the age of 50 after a serious illness, was Turkey’s top “imported” athlete who elevated Turkish weightlifting to a world-class status. Born in Bulgaria as a member of the country’s Turkish minority, Suleymanoglu defected to Turkey during the 1986 world weightlifting championships in Melbourne, after which he was naturalized and represented Turkey at international tournaments for years. Nicknamed “The Pocket Hercules,” Suleymanoglu won three consecutive Olympic titles and dozens of gold medals from world and European championships, breaking 46 world records during his career.

Boosted by Suleymanoglu’s success, Turkish weightlifting flourished, producing a generation of champions, both men and women. Among Turkey’s “imported” athletes, Suleymanoglu was a rare role model.

In recent years, however, sports in Turkey have been on the decline, almost in all branches. Weightlifting and athletics, especially, have been mired in doping scandals, resulting in competition bans and medal-stripping for Turkish athletes. In September, Turkey was among nine countries that the International Weightlifting Federation suspended from competition for a year due to rampant doping violations.

Since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power more than 15 years ago, Turkey has invested significantly in sports facilities, with Istanbul making three unsuccessful bids to host the Olympics. The last time, in 2013, Istanbul lost out to Tokyo in the race to host the 2020 Olympics. Many saw Istanbul’s defeat as the fallout of the doping scandals as well as Turkey’s worsening international image after a ferocious crackdown on mass anti-government protests that had rattled the country months before the vote.