Kazım Ayvaz
Kazım Ayvaz 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 [Turkey at the Wrestling at the 1964 Summer Olympics|1964 Summer Olympics|1964 Olympics] and became world champion twice.
Career
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 [Wrestling at the Wrestling at the 1960 Summer Olympics|1960 Summer Olympics|1960], 1964 and [Wrestling at the Wrestling at the 1968 Summer Olympics|1968 Summer Olympics|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.
Ayvaz lived in Sweden until his death on 18 January 2020.
Achievements
- 1957 Adriatic Cup in Opatija, Yugoslavia – bronze
- 1958 World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary – gold
- 1959 Balkan Wrestling Championships in Istanbul, Turkey – gold
- 1960 Balkan Wrestling Championships in Burgas, Bulgaria – silver
- 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy – 4th
- 1962 World Wrestling Championships in Toledo, Ohio, U.S. – gold
- 1963 World Wrestling Championships in Helsingborg, Sweden – 17th
- 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan – gold
- 1964 Balkan Wrestling Championships in Constanţa, Romania – silver
- 1966 European Wrestling Championships in Essen, Germany – 4th
- 1966, World Wrestling Championships in Toledo, Ohio, U.S. – 6th
- 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico – 24th, injured