- Ahmet Ayık
Ahmet Ayık (
March 31 ,1938 ,Sivas ), is a former Turkish World champion and Olympic medalist sports wrestler in the Light heavyweight class (97kg) and a sports executive. He won the silver medal at the 1964 Olympics in Men'sFreestyle wrestling and the gold medal at the 1968 Olympics.He was born in 1938 in Eskiköy, a village of
Doğanşar district inSivas Province in the eastern part of Central Anatolia as the sixth child of a poor family. Ahmet Ayık lost four of his siblings during the1939 Erzincan earthquake . He began wrestling as a youngster in the traditional Turkishyağlı güreş (oil wrestling).At age 13, he followed his brother to
Istanbul , and joined first Şişli Youth Club and later Beşiktaş JK for sports wrestling. After winning the title of Turkish champion, he was admitted to the national team in 1962, and received training by the renowned wrestlers such asYaşar Doğu ,Celal Atik ,Nasuh Akar andBayram Şit . Besides his medals at two Olympic Games, Ahmet Ayık became two timesWorld champion , two times European champion and won several titles at various international competitions. Ahmet Ayık defeated the legendary wrestlers likeGholamreza Takhti fromIran andAlexander Medved of Soviet/Belarus . He was the only wrestler in his time whom Alexander Medved was not able to beat.He retired from the active sports after his second title of European champion in 1970. In 1980, Ahmet Ayık co-founded the Turkish Wrestling Foundation and became 1993 the chairman of this organization. Between 1996 and 2000, he served as the president of the Turkish Wrestling Federation. He is also a member of the board of International Wrestling Federation (FILA) since 1998.
Ahmet Ayık has been married since 1958 and has three children.
Achievements
* 1962 Adriatic Cup in
Belgrade , SFR Yugoslavia - silver (87 kg)
* 1963 Mediterranean Games inNaples ,Italy - gold (97 kg)
* 1964 Balkan Championships inConstanţa ,Romania - gold (87 kg)
* 1964 Olympics inTokyo ,Japan - silver (97 kg)
* 1965 International Tournament inTblisi ,Georgian SSR - gold (97 kg)
* 1965 World Championships inManchester ,England - gold (97 kg)
* 1966 World Championships inToledo, Ohio , U.S. - silver (97 kg)
* 1966 European Championships inKarlsruhe ,Germany - silver (97 kg)
* 1967 European Championships inIstanbul , Turkey - gold (97 kg)
* 1967 World Championships inNew Delhi ,India - gold (97 kg)
* 1968 Olympics inMexico City ,Mexico - gold (97 kg)
* 1970 European Championships inEast Berlin ,German Democratic Republic - gold (100 kg)External links
* [http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=AYIKAHM01 Olympics Database]
* [http://www.ahmetayik.com/ana_sayfa/index.html Ahmet Ayık personal website] tr icon
* [http://www.filahalloffame.com/ayik.html International Wrestling Hall of Fame]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.