ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 3, 1997 TAG: 9701030076
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From Associated Press reports
``Pocket Hercules'' needed only a few seconds to win his third Olympic title. Miguel Indurain was in the spotlight for three whole weeks for his fifth Tour de France triumph.
Yet Naim Suleymanoglu, the extroverted Turkish weightlifter, and Miguel Indurain, the modest cyclist from Spain, had much in common, and on Thursday both announced their retirement from competition.
They were national heroes. Suleymanoglu would be carried through the streets on the shoulders of his countryman after he had triumphed at Olympics or world championships. And the Spaniards loved Indurain and would chant his name whenever he appeared in public.
They both won their last major titles at the Atlanta Olympics - Suleymanoglu in the 141-pound competition and Indurain in the individual time trial.
While Indurain, 32, believes he could get himself into shape to win an unprecedented sixth Tour de France and beat five-time winners Eddie Merckx, Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault, Suleymanoglu, 30, said he couldn't hang around until the next Olympics in 2000.
``Weightlifting has given me a lot, and it has given me a lot of joy,'' he said. ``But for now I only have one goal - to rest for a long while and catch up on all that I have missed out on in my youth.''
In other sports news:
* Clemson's defensive coordinator, Ellis Johnson, is returning to Alabama, where he coached linebackers for three years. Last year, Johnson's co-defensive coordinator, Miles Aldridge, left Clemson to run the Arkansas defense.
``This was extremely difficult,'' said Johnson, 45, who came to Clemson with coach Tommy West in 1993. ``For personal reasons, I never much cared to leave Clemson. But I felt like there was an opportunity to go somewhere with a lot of exposure and a lot of expectations.''
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