The 35-year-old Turk Halil Mutlu seized a silver medal at last week's European Championships to mark a triumphant return after a two-year ban.

One of the smallest lifters in the world is now aiming to become the greatest of all time by winning his fourth consecutive gold medal at the Olympic Games this August.

In this ancient sport, which has produced numerous legends, athletes never stop challenging their limits and creating records. Mutlu, the 1.5 m "little dynamo," typifies this never-say-die ethos of the sport.

The Bulgaria-born athlete emigrated to Turkey at 16 and soon began setting records and winning titles for his new country. He is one of only four weightlifters to have won three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games. He won five World Championships, nine European Championships and broke more than 20 world records at 52kg, 54kg and 56kg combined.

In 1994, he won both the European and World Championships. He made his first Olympic appearance in 1992 in the 52 kg category and finished fifth.

In 1996, in the 54 kg category, the reigning world champion and world record holder, Mutlu broke the world record in the snatch and went on to win the gold medal by 7.5 kg.

Four years later in Sydney, he set world records in both the snatch and the clean and jerk and won by 17.5 kg in the 56 kg category.

But before the Athens Games, his career appeared in doubt after a torn right rotator cuff and ruptured bicep tendon sidelined him for most of the 2002 season, while a shoulder injury interrupted 2003.

Despite not being at his best, the 31-year-old veteran beat younger and more aggressive lifters in Athens and out-lifted Wu Meijin of China by 5 kg in the snatch then extended his lead in the jerk to earn a 7.5 kg victory.

"I believe I use my whole soul, my heart and myself to lift the weight," he said. "The reasons behind my success are that I love competing and I love weightlifting.

"I trained and tried harder than younger athletes. With weightlifting, age doesn't even matter."

But soon after the Olympics, Mutlu was banned from international competition by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) for two years for the use of the anabolic steroid Nandrolone at the 2005 World Championships.

After two years, he is back in the arena with greater ambition. At the European Olympic qualifiers, Mutlu won the snatch in the 56 kg class and finished with the same combined lift of 269 kg as Igor Bour. The Moldovan took the bantamweight gold because of his lower body weight at the championships in Lignano, Italy.

"I always feel young no matter how old I may be," he said. "Every major tournament feels like the first time and my goal is to push to my limits and try my best."

Shifting power

Weightlifting is the only sport whose history in world-wide competitions spans across three centuries: from 1891 through the 20th Century until 2008. It was part of the first modern Olympics in 1896 in Athens, along with athletics, swimming, gymnastics, fencing, wrestling, shooting and cycling.

It has undergone some major changes over the decades. In the early 20th century, Austria, Germany and France were the most successful nations. Later on, Egypt and the US reigned. From 1950-1980 the former Soviet Union's weightlifters ruled the arena, with Bulgaria as a main challenger. Since the mid-90s, however, Turkey, Greece and China have taken charge. Greek men have been showing rapid improvement in recent years, spearheaded by triple Olympic gold medalist Pyrros Dimas.

On the women's side, China has been dominant since the very beginning, with other Asian countries like Vietnam and Thailand emerging as strong title contenders.