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Turkish Olympic wrestlers

18 articles

Ahmet Ayık

Ahmet Ayık, born in 1938 in Sivas, Turkey, is a Turkish freestyle wrestler who won Olympic silver in 1964 and gold in 1968 at 97 kg.

Ahmet Bilek

Ahmet Bilek (1932–1970), Turkish freestyle wrestler, flyweight ≤52 kg; Olympic gold at Rome 1960, world silver 1953 (Greco-Roman) and 1959, Mediterranean Games gold 1955; died in Germany.

Ahmet Kirecci

Ahmet Kireççi (Mersinli Ahmet, 1914-1979), Turkish wrestler; won Turkey's first Olympic medal, freestyle 79 kg bronze at Berlin 1936, and Greco-Roman heavyweight gold at London 1948.

Bayram Sit

Bayram Şit (1930-2019), Turkish freestyle wrestler; Olympic featherweight gold at Helsinki 1952, silver at 1954 Tokyo Worlds, fourth at Melbourne 1956; later coached France and Turkey.

Celal Atik

Celal Atik, born Doğan, was a Turkish wrestler who won the 1948 Olympic lightweight freestyle title and European and world championships before coaching Turkey's national team.

Gazanfer Bilge

Gazanfer Bilge, Turkish freestyle wrestler (born Karamürsel 1923 or 1924, died Istanbul 2008), 1948 London Olympic featherweight gold medalist and 1946 European 62 kg champion, later a bus company founder and philanthropist.

Hamit Kaplan

Hamit Kaplan was a Turkish freestyle wrestler, born in 1934 and died in 1976, who earned the distinction of winning three consecutive Olympic medals.

Hasan Gemici

Hasan Gemici (15 June 1927 – 25 June 2001) was a Turkish freestyle wrestler, 1952 Helsinki Olympic flyweight (52 kg) gold medalist and 1951 Mediterranean Games champion, later a coach; birthplace sources differ (Giresun vs Samsun-Terme).

Hasan Gungor

Hasan Gungor (Hasan Güngör, 1934–2011), Turkish freestyle wrestler, Olympic middleweight gold medalist at Rome 1960 and silver medalist at Tokyo 1964; later coached Turkish national teams for over 20 years.

Ismail Ogan

Ismail Ogan was a Turkish freestyle wrestler who secured silver at the 1960 Rome Olympics and gold at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, in addition to three World Championship medals.

İsmet Atlı

İsmet Atlı (1931–2014), Turkish freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestler from Kozan, Adana. Won light-heavyweight gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics by beating Gholam Reza Takhti; 1954 world silver, 1951 Mediterranean Games gold.

Mahmut Atalay

Mahmut Atalay (1934–2004), Turkish freestyle wrestler; 1968 Mexico City Olympic gold at welterweight 78 kg, fourth at Tokyo 1964, 1966 world champion, named FILA's most technical wrestler in 1968.

Mahmut Demir

Mahmut Demir (born 1970, Suluova, Turkey), nicknamed the "Turkish Tank", is a Turkish freestyle wrestler, 1996 Atlanta Olympic super-heavyweight (130 kg) champion, 1994 World and three-time European champion; not the footballers or referees of the same name.

Mustafa Dagıstanlı

Mustafa Dağıstanlı was a Turkish freestyle wrestler who won consecutive Olympic gold medals at Melbourne 1956 and Rome 1960, plus world titles in 1954, 1957, and 1959.

Nasuh Akar

Nasuh Akar (1925–1984), Turkish freestyle wrestler, won bantamweight (≤57 kg) gold at the 1948 London Olympics, the first Olympic freestyle gold for Turkey, plus 1949 European and 1951 world titles.

Ramazan Şahin

Ramazan Şahin (born Ramzan Irbaikhanov, 1983, Dagestan) is a Turkish freestyle wrestler, 2007 world champion and 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medalist at 66 kg, Turkey's first gold of those Games; fifth at London 2012.

Taha Akgul

Taha Akgul, a Turkish freestyle wrestler, is known for winning gold at the Rio 2016 Olympics, as well as being a three-time world champion and an 11-time European champion.

Yaşar Doğu

Yaşar Doğu (1913–1961), Turkish wrestler nicknamed the father of Turkish wrestling; 1948 London Olympic freestyle welterweight gold, 1951 Helsinki world champion at 87 kg, three European titles, 46 wins in 47 matches.