Kazım Ayvaz (March 10, 1938 – January 18, 2020) was a Turkish Olympic medalist sports wrestler in the lightweight class and a trainer. He won the gold medal in Men's Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1964 Olympics and became world champion twice.[1]

Kazım Ayvaz
Personal information
NationalityTurkish
Born(1938-03-10)March 10, 1938
Rize, Turkey
DiedJanuary 18, 2020(2020-01-18) (aged 81)
Sweden
Sport
CountryTurkey
SportGreco-Roman wrestling
EventLightweight
Retired1969
Medal record
Representing Turkey
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1964 Tokyo 70 kg
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1958 Budapest 73 kg
Gold medal – first place 1962 Toledo 70 kg
Balkan Championships
Gold medal – first place 1959 Istanbul 73 kg
Silver medal – second place 1964 Constanta 70 kg
Adriatic Cup
Bronze medal – third place 1957 Opatija 73 kg
Men's freestyle wrestling
Balkan Championships
Silver medal – second place 1960 Burgas 73 kg

Career

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He was born 1938 in Rize, north-eastern Turkey. He began wrestling 1953 at his age of 15 in the "İstanbul Güreş İhtisas Kulübü", a club in Fatih, Istanbul specialized in wrestling.

He won the gold medal at the 1958 World Wrestling Championships in Budapest in 73 kg. Greco-Roman wrestling, ahead of silver medalist Grigory Gamarnik of the USSR and bronze medalist Valeriu Bularca of Romania.

Representing his country in Greco-Roman style wrestling, he participated at three consecutive Olympics in 1960, 1964 and 1968, however was successful only in Tokyo.[2] From 1964 on, Kazım Ayvaz could not repeat his victorious matches. He retired from the active sports in 1969 and served from then on as a trainer in Sweden, where he emigrated after the 1968 Olympics.

Ayvaz lived in Sweden until his death on 18 January 2020.[3][4]

Achievements

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References

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  1. ^ "International Wrestling Database".
  2. ^ "Wrestling at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games: Men's Lightweight, Greco-Roman". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  3. ^ Erel, Fatih (20 January 2020). "Former Olympic champ Turkish wrestler Kazim Ayvaz dies". aa.com.tr. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Turkish Wrestling Great Kazim Ayvaz Passes Away". United World Wrestling. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
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