Vehbi Akdağ
Turkish freestyle wrestler (1949–2020)
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Vehbi Akdağ (1 January 1949 – 23 June 2020) was a Turkish freestyle wrestler. He competed for Turkey at the 1968 Summer Olympics, the 1972 Summer Olympics, and the 1976 Summer Olympics. His greatest success came at the 1972 Games in Munich, where he won the silver medal in the men's freestyle 62 kg event, Turkey's only medal of those Olympics.[1][2]
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 1 January 1949 Tokat, Turkey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 23 June 2020 (aged 71) Tokat, Turkey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 62 kg (137 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Turkey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Wrestling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Freestyle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Career
Akdağ was born in Tokat and took up wrestling at the age of 16.[2] He represented Turkey in freestyle wrestling, competing mainly in the featherweight divisions. At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, he was eliminated in the fourth round of the men's freestyle featherweight event after drawing with Yelkan Tedeyev of the Soviet Union and Nikos Karypidis of Greece, finishing outside the medals on penalty points.[3]
He placed fourth in the 68 kg freestyle event at the 1970 European Wrestling Championships. Two years later, at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, he defeated Orlando Gonçalves of Portugal and Satpal Singh of India by fall, and later beat Jorma Liimatainen of Finland, Patrick Bolger of Canada, and Petre Coman of Romania on points. In the final stage, he lost to Zagalav Abdulbekov of the Soviet Union but defeated Ivan Krastev of Bulgaria to secure the silver medal in the 62 kg class.[1][4]
After Munich, Akdağ remained competitive at major international events. He won the bronze medal at the 1973 European Wrestling Championships in Lausanne and the bronze medal at the 1974 World Wrestling Championships in Istanbul. Olympedia also records him as fourth at the 1970 European Championships, while his athlete profile lists those two championship medals among his major international achievements.[1][5]
Akdağ died in Tokat on 23 June 2020. His funeral was held in Ormanbeyli village, where he was buried the same day.[6]