Underlining just how serious Naim Suleymanoglu and the rest of the Turkish weightlifting team is about the Sydney Olympics, Bulgarian coach Ivan Abadjiev has been asked to coach the Turkish team. Abadjiev, reportedly at Suleymanoglu's personal request, was brought to Turkey as the weightlifting team prepared for the Atlanta Olympics, and his efforts were rewarded with gold medals by Halil Mutlu and Naim Suleymanoglu. Abadjiev said that he has not yet decided whether to accept the offer.