Celal Atik (1918 – 27 April 1979) was a Turkish wrestler and coach. He competed both in Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling, but had his best achievements in the freestyle, winning gold medals at the 1948 Olympics, 1951 World and 1946 and 1949 European championships. He was born in the village of Gürdan in the

Boğazlıyan Boğazlıyan is a town and district of Yozgat Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. Neighbouring districts are Sarıkaya on the north, Yenifakılı on the west, Çandır and Çayıralan Çayıralan is a town and district of Yozgat ...

district of

Yozgat Province Yozgat Province ( tr, ) is a province in central Turkey. Its adjacent provinces are Çorum to the northwest, Kırıkkale to the west, Kırşehir to the southwest, Nevşehir to the south, Kayseri to the southeast, Sivas to the east, Tokat to the ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. He changed his family name from "Doğan" to "Atik" (literally, "Slippy") after a proposal by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, who noticed his speed at the 1938 national championships. After retiring from competition, from 1955 to 1979 he coached the national wrestling team and prepared multiple international competitors. Appointed the head trainer by the

International Wrestling Federation The International Wrestling Federation (IWF, also known as Killer Kowalski's All-Stars) was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the New England area of the United States from 1979 to 1996, when it was run by Killer Kowalski. Th ...

(FILA) in Switzerland, he gave lessons on wrestling techniques to sportspeople from all around the world. He is recognized as one of Turkey's best wrestlers, with exceptional technique as well as the most aesthetic physique. In addition to his other honors, he was awarded with the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

of France. Atik died on 27 April 1979 in a hospital in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

. Two sports halls—one in

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban aggl ...

with a capacity of 1,200 people and another one in his hometown Yozgat—are named after him.Governor of Yozgat

Coaching achievements

* 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

– champion team * 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan – 2 gold, 5 silver and 1 bronze * 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

– 2 gold * 1955–1971 at all World Championships – various medals

References

External links

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Who is who

Biography

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Atik, Celal 1918 births 1979 deaths Olympic wrestlers of Turkey Wrestlers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Turkish male sport wrestlers Olympic gold medalists for Turkey People from Boğazlıyan Recipients of the Legion of Honour Turkish people of Circassian descent Olympic medalists in wrestling World Wrestling Championships medalists Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics European Wrestling Champions 20th-century Turkish people