Kazım Ayvaz
Turkish wrestler and coach (1938–2020)
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Kazım Ayvaz (10 March 1938 – 18 January 2020) was a Turkish Greco-Roman wrestler and coach. He won the gold medal in the men's Greco-Roman lightweight event at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He was also a two-time world champion, winning the 1958 World Wrestling Championships and the 1962 World Wrestling Championships.[1][2]
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 10 March 1938 Rize, Turkey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 18 January 2020 (aged 81) Helsingborg, Sweden | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 173 cm (5.68 ft; 68 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 70 kg (150 lb; 11 st) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Turkey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Wrestling | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Greco-Roman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1969 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Career
Ayvaz was born in Rize on 10 March 1938. He started wrestling in 1953, at the age of 15, at İstanbul Güreş İhtisas Kulübü. Unlike most Turkish wrestlers of his era, he competed exclusively in Greco-Roman wrestling.[1]
His first major international title came at the 1958 World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, where he won the gold medal in the 73 kg class. In 1959, he added the gold medal at the Balkan Championships in Istanbul.[1]
At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Ayvaz had to move up to the middleweight division after losing the domestic selection in welterweight to teammate Mithat Bayrak. In the Olympic tournament, he defeated Italy's Marziano Magnani by decision in the first round, Luxembourg's Raymond Schummer by fall in the second round, Iran's Mansour Hazrati by decision in the third round, and Czechoslovakia's Jiří Kormaník by fall in the fourth round. He later lost to Bulgaria's Dimitar Dobrev and finished fourth in the men's Greco-Roman middleweight event.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
Ayvaz won his second world title at the 1962 World Wrestling Championships in Toledo, Ohio, in the 70 kg class. Although he had a disappointing result at the 1963 World Wrestling Championships, he reached the peak of his Olympic career the following year in Tokyo.[1]
At the 1964 Summer Olympics, Ayvaz defeated Egypt's Mahmoud Ibrahim by decision in the first round and the Soviet Union's Davit Gvantseladze by decision in the second. After receiving a bye in the third round, he beat Bulgaria's Ivan Ivanov by decision in the fourth round and drew with Romania's Valeriu Bularcă in the fifth. All the other remaining contenders were eliminated on bad points, which gave Ayvaz the gold medal in the men's Greco-Roman lightweight event.[9]
Ayvaz also competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. In the men's Greco-Roman lightweight event, he drew with Romania's Ion Enache in the first round and with West Germany's Klaus Rost in the second round. He withdrew before the third round and was classified 16th overall.[10]
Ayvaz remained active until 1969. After the end of his competitive career, he served on the coaching staff of the Turkish national team for many years and later moved to Sweden. For his services to the sport, he was inducted into the FILA International Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2011.[1][2]
Ayvaz died in Helsingborg, Sweden, on 18 January 2020.[1][11]