Kazım Ayvaz

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.

Kazım Ayvaz

Personal information
Nationality	Turkish
Born	(1938-03-10)March 10, 1938 Rize, Turkey
Died	January 18, 2020(2020-01-18) (aged 81)^[1] Sweden
Sport
Country	Turkey
Sport	Greco-Roman wrestling
Event(s)	Lightweight
Retired	1969
Medal record Representing Turkey Olympic Games 1964 Tokyo 70 kg World Championships 1962 Toledo 70 kg 1958 Budapest 73 kg Balkan Championships 1959 Istanbul 73 kg 1964 Constanţa 70 kg Adriatic Cup 1957 Opatija 73 kg Men's freestyle wrestling Balkan Championships 1960 Burgas 73 kg

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. 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.^[2]

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

Achievements

• 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

1. "Turkish Wrestling Great Kazim Ayvaz Passes Away". United World Wrestling. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
2. About race^{[permanent dead link]} (in Swedish)
3. Erel, Fatih (20 January 2020). "Former Olympic champ Turkish wrestler Kazim Ayvaz dies". aa.com.tr. Retrieved 30 May 2021.

External links

• Who is who (in Turkish)