- Hamza Yerlikaya
Hamza Yerlikaya (born
June 6 ,1976 in Kadıköy,Istanbul ) is a Turkish Graeco-Roman style wrestler. He is a two time (in 1996 and 2000) Olympic champion and the only Turkish wrestler to ever become European champion eight times. He was named "The Wrestler of the century" in1996 by theInternational Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA).A sports complex in
Gaziosmanpaşa district of Istanbul is named after him.Currently, he is a deputy of the ruling
Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi .Early life
His family was originally from Sivas, but they moved to Istanbul three months prior to Hamza's birth. His father Mustafa Yerlikaya is also a wrestler but was no longer active by the time Hamza was born. He started wrestling at age of 11 encouraged by his father and inspired by his elder brother
Muttalip Yerlikaya who is also a wrestler with international success.International wrestling career
Hamza Yerlikaya's first international competition was in
1991 World Cadets Wrestling Championships inQuébec ,Canada , in which he got the fourth place. His first senior international event was the1993 European Wrestling Championships in Istanbul where he got the second place, losing toThomas Zander in the finals. He surprised some of the spectators who thought this was a coincidence by winning the gold medal in1993 World Wrestling Championship inStockholm ,Sweden at the age of 17, and hence becoming the youngest ever World Champion in wrestling.As his age allowed, in some years he participated in seniors, juniors as well as cadets events. He won the World Championship again in
1995 and went on to win his first Olympicgold medal in Atlanta 1996 at the age of 20. He repeated his success four years later in Sydney 2000 and carried the flag for Turkey at the Sydney 2000 opening ceremony. Since then he has won three more World Championships (2002, 2003 and (at 96 kg) 2005). He has won the European Seniors Championship eight times (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2006).He competed in 84 kg Men's Greco-Roman Wrestling for Turkey in 2004 Summer Olympic Games in
Athens ,Greece and got 4th place.In April 2007, he withdrew from international competition due to emergency surgery to correct neck fractures, some of which were estimated to have been as much as four years old and never treated. [http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=108402]
Affiliations and coaching
* Between years
1986 -1996 he was in "Istanbul Demirspor" club and was coached by Salih Bora and Muzaffer Aydin.
* He did his military service in 1996-1997 and is the only Turkish athlete that won a medal in Olympic Games during military service.
* He was coached by Salih Bora since 1997.
* In years1998 -1999 he was in "Emlakbank" club.
* Since 1999 he is wrestling for "Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality".
* Hakki Basar started coaching him in2004 .Major international achievements
In reverse chronological order:
* 2006 European Championship inMoscow ,Russia - gold (96 kg)
*2006 World Cup inBudapest ,Hungary - gold (96 kg)
*2005 World Championship inBudapest ,Hungary - gold (96 kg)
* 2005 European Championship inVarna ,Bulgaria - gold (96 kg)
*2004 Olympics inAthens ,Greece - 4th (84 kg)
*2003 World Championship in Créteil, Paris inFrance - 7th (84 kg)
*2002 World Cup inCairo ,Egypt - silver (96 kg)
* 2002 World Championship inMoscow inRussia - 6th (84 kg)
* 2002 European Championship inSeinäjoki ,Finland - gold (84 kg)
*2001 World Championship inPatras inGreece - 9th (85 kg)
* 2001 World Cup in Levallois-Perret, Paris,France - 5th (97 kg)
* 2001 European Championship inIstanbul ,Turkey - gold (85 kg)
*2000 Olympics inSydney ,Australia - gold (85 kg)
* 1999 World Championship inAthens ,Greece - 21st (85 kg)
*1999 European Championship inSofia ,Bulgaria - gold (85 kg)
*1998 World Championship inGävle ,Sweden - 5th (85 kg)
* 1998 European Championship inMinsk ,Belarus - gold (85 kg)
*1997 World Cup inTehran ,Iran - gold (85 kg)
* 1997 World Championship inWrocław ,Poland - silver (85 kg)
* 1997 Mediterranean Games in Bari,Italy - gold (85 kg)
* 1997 European Championship inKouvola ,Finland - gold (85 kg)
*1996 Olympics inAtlanta, Georgia , U.S. - gold (82 kg)
* 1996 European Championship inBudapest ,Hungary - gold (82 kg)
*1995 World Championship inPrague ,Czechoslovakia - gold (82 kg)
* 1995 World Espoir Championship inTehran ,Iran - bronze (82 kg)
* 1995 European Championship inBesançon ,France - 7th (82 kg)
*1994 World Championship inTampere ,Finland - 12th (82 kg)
* 1994 World Juniors Championship inBudapest ,Hungary - gold (88 kg)
* 1994 European Espoir Championship inIstanbul ,Turkey - gold (82 kg)
* 1994 European Championship inAthens ,Greece - 5th (82 kg)
*1993 World Championship inStockholm ,Sweden - gold (82 kg)
* 1993 European Juniors Championship inGötzis ,Austria - gold (81 kg)
* 1993 European Championship inIstanbul ,Turkey - silver (82 kg)
* 1993 Mediterranean Games inLanguedoc-Roussillon ,France - bronze (82 kg)
*1992 World Cadets Championship inIstanbul ,Turkey - gold (76 kg)
* 1992 World Juniors Championship inSantiago de Cali ,Colombia - silver (74 kg)
*1991 World Cadets Championship inAlma, Quebec ,Canada - 4th (65 kg)All listed events are Greco-Roman style wrestling.
External links and references
* [http://www.hamzayerlikaya.com/ Hamza Yerlikaya's web page] , in Turkish, but contains many photographs.
* [http://wrestler8.narod.ru/xamza/xamza2.htm A page about Hamza Yerlikaya] with photos, and detailed information.
* [http://www.athens2004.com/en/ParticipantsAthletes/newParticipants?pid=389566 Athens 2004 page] .
* [http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletebios/5020331/detail.html A very short profile] fromNBC Olympics pages.
* [http://www.fila-wrestling.com/resultats/resultats.php3?menu=8&lang=an FILA database of wrestling events] .
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