Sırrı Acar

Acar was born in Gökçedere, in Yalova Province.^[1] He had first competed in traditional oil wrestling and karakucak before moving into mat wrestling in 1959 at İstanbul Güreş İhtisas Kulübü. He later wrestled for Fenerbahçe S.K. and became captain of the club's wrestling team during its run of Istanbul championships from 1966 to 1968.^[4]

Acar's first important international results came in the mid-1960s. He won bronze at the Balkan Championships in Constanța in 1964 and silver at the 1965 edition in Yambol.^[5] In 1965, he won the bronze medal in the men's Greco-Roman 78 kg event at the 1965 World Wrestling Championships in Tampere.^[1]

Acar won bronze at the 1967 Mediterranean Games in Tunis in the 78 kg class.^[6] He then won the gold medal at the 1967 European Wrestling Championships in Minsk.^[3] Later that year he competed at the 1967 World Wrestling Championships, where he finished fourth.^[1]

Acar successfully defended his continental title at the 1968 European Wrestling Championships in Västerås, becoming a two-time European champion.^[3][7] He represented Turkey later that year at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City in the men's Greco-Roman welterweight division. He defeated Norway's Harald Barlie in his opening bout, drew with Sweden's Jan Kårström in the second round, and then lost to Bulgaria's Metodi Zarev. He finished in a tie for 11th place overall.^[8]

Acar continued to compete internationally after the Olympics. At the 1969 European Wrestling Championships in Modena, he wrestled in the 74 kg category and placed fourth.^[1]

After retiring from competition, Acar worked as a coach with the Turkey national wrestling team and in Yalova, the Yalova Termal Municipality launched a wrestling team..^[4] He later served for a period as mayor of Termal, Yalova.^[4][9]