Ahmet Ayık

Ahmet Ayık
Personal information
NationalityTurkish
Born (1938-08-31) August 31, 1938
Sivas, Turkey
Sport
SportWrestling
Event
Freestyle
Coached byYaşar Doğu
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing  Turkey
Olympic Games


Gold medal – first place 1968 Mexico City 97 kg
Silver medal – second place 1964 Tokyo 97 kg
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1965 Manchester 97 kg
Gold medal – first place 1967 New Delhi 97 kg
Silver medal – second place 1966 Toledo 97 kg
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1967 Istanbul 97 kg
Gold medal – first place 1970 East Berlin 97 kg
Silver medal – second place 1966 Karlsruhe 97 kg
Mediterranean Games
Gold medal – first place 1963 Naples 97 kg
Balkan Championships
Gold medal – first place 1964 Constanţa 97 kg
Adriatic Cup
Silver medal – second place 1962 Belgrade 87 kg
International Tournament
Gold medal – first place 1965 Tbilisi 97 kg

Ahmet Ayık (born March 31, 1938), is a former Turkish World champion of Karachay origin[1] and Olympic medalist sports wrestler in the Light heavyweight class (97 kg) and a sports executive. He won the silver medal at the 1964 Olympics in Men's Freestyle wrestling and the gold medal at the 1968 Olympics.[2]

Biography

He was born in 1938 in Eskiköy, a village of Doğanşar district in Sivas Province in the eastern part of Central Anatolia as the sixth child of a poor family. Ahmet Ayık lost four of his siblings during the 1939 Erzincan earthquake. He began wrestling as a youngster in the traditional Turkish Karakucak Güreşi.[3]

At age 13, he followed his brother to Istanbul, and joined first Şişli Youth Club and later Beşiktaş JK for sports wrestling. After winning the title of Turkish champion, he was admitted to the national team in 1962, and received training by the renowned wrestlers such as Yaşar Doğu, Celal Atik, Nasuh Akar and Bayram Şit. Besides his medals at two Olympic Games, Ahmet Ayık became two times World champion, two times European champion and won several titles at various international competitions. Ahmet Ayık defeated the legendary wrestlers like Gholamreza Takhti from Iran and Alexander Medved of Soviet/Belarus. He is also first and one of only two people to ever defeat Soviet wrestler Ivan Yarygin at an international competition.[4]

He retired from the active sports after his second title of European champion in 1970. In 1980, Ahmet Ayık co-founded the Turkish Wrestling Foundation and became 1993 the chairman of this organization. Between 1996 and 2000, he served as the president of the Turkish Wrestling Federation. He is also a member of the board of International Wrestling Federation (FILA) since 1998.

Ahmet Ayık has been married since 1958 and has three children.

References

  1. ^ "Interview of Ahmet Ayık to Elbrusoid". YouTube. November 23, 2019.
  2. ^ "Ahmet Ayık". www.biyografya.com.
  3. ^ "Acının şokunu güreşle atlattım".
  4. ^ "Medved'i Ahmet Ayık efsane yaptı".
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