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]
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Kazım Ayvaz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Turkish | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | March 10, 1938 Rize, Turkey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | January 18, 2020 (aged 81) Sweden | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Turkey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Greco-Roman wrestling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | Lightweight | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1969 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Career edit
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 edit
- 1957 Adriatic Cup in Opatija, Yugoslavia – bronze (Greco-Roman Welterweight)
- 1958 World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary – gold (Greco-Roman Welterweight)
- 1959 Balkan Wrestling Championships in Istanbul, Turkey – gold (Greco-Roman 73 kg)
- 1960 Balkan Wrestling Championships in Burgas, Bulgaria – silver (Freestyle 73 kg)
- 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy – 4th (Greco-Roman Middleweight)
- 1962 World Wrestling Championships in Toledo, Ohio, U.S. – gold (Greco-Roman Lightweight)
- 1963 World Wrestling Championships in Helsingborg, Sweden – 17th (Greco-Roman Lightweight)
- 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan – gold (Greco-Roman Lightweight)
- 1964 Balkan Wrestling Championships in Constanţa, Romania – silver (Greco-Roman Lightweight)
- 1966 European Wrestling Championships in Essen, Germany – 4th (Greco-Roman Lightweight)
- 1966, World Wrestling Championships in Toledo, Ohio, U.S. – 6th (Greco-Roman Lightweight)
- 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico – 24th, injured (Greco-Roman Lightweight)
References edit
- ^ "International Wrestling Database".
- ^ "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.
- ^ Erel, Fatih (20 January 2020). "Former Olympic champ Turkish wrestler Kazim Ayvaz dies". aa.com.tr. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
- ^ "Turkish Wrestling Great Kazim Ayvaz Passes Away". United World Wrestling. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
External links edit
- Kazım Ayvaz at the International Wrestling Database
- Kazım Ayvaz at Olympedia
