Kazım Ayvaz (March 10, 1938 – January 18, 2020) was a Turkish Olympic medalist sports wrestler in the lightweight class and a trainer. He won the gold medal in Men's Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1964 Olympics and became world champion twice.[1]
Career
He was born 1938 in Rize, north-eastern Turkey. He began wrestling 1953 at his age of 15 in the "İstanbul Güreş İhtisas Kulübü", a club in Fatih, Istanbul specialized in wrestling.
Representing his country in Greco-Roman style wrestling, he participated at three consecutive Olympics in 1960, 1964 and 1968, however was successful only in Tokyo.[2] From 1964 on, Kazım Ayvaz could not repeat his victorious matches. He retired from the active sports in 1969 and served from then on as a trainer in Sweden, where he emigrated after the 1968 Olympics.
Ayvaz lived in Sweden until his death on 18 January 2020.[3][4]
Achievements
1957 Adriatic Cup in Opatija, Yugoslavia – bronze (Greco-Roman Welterweight)
1958 World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary – gold (Greco-Roman Welterweight)
1959 Balkan Wrestling Championships in Istanbul, Turkey – gold (Greco-Roman 73 kg)
1960 Balkan Wrestling Championships in Burgas, Bulgaria – silver (Freestyle 73 kg)
