Mehmet Oktav
Turkish wrestler and coach (1917–1996)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mehmet Oktav (1917 – 6 April 1996) was a Turkish Greco-Roman wrestler and coach. He won the gold medal in the men's Greco-Roman featherweight event at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.[1]
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 1 January 1917 Istanbul, Ottoman Empire | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 6 April 1996 (aged 79) | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Country | Turkey | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | Wrestling | ||||||||||||||
Event | Greco-Roman | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Kasımpaşa S.K. | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Career
Oktav was born in Istanbul, Ottoman Empire in 1917. He began his sporting career at Kasımpaşa in 1942 as a footballer and later switched to wrestling.[2][3]
He reached the peak of his career at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. In the men's Greco-Roman featherweight event, he received a bye in the first round. He then defeated Finland's Erkki Talosela by unanimous decision in the second round, pinned Sweden's Olle Anderberg in 2:48 in the third round, and beat Egypt's El-Sayed Kandil by unanimous decision in the fourth round. In the fifth round, he defeated Austria's Georg Weidner by a 2–1 decision. Oktav then received a bye in the final round; when Anderberg defeated Hungary's Ferenc Tóth, Oktav secured the Olympic gold medal on the basis of his earlier head-to-head victory over the Swedish wrestler.[4]
Oktav retired from competition in 1953. During his active career, he represented Turkey 13 times at international level. He later worked as a coach for club teams and the national team for 17 years.[2]
Oktav died on 6 April 1996.[1]