Gazanfer Bilge (July 23, 1924 – April 20, 2008) was a Turkish sports wrestler who won the gold medal in the

Featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, t ...

class of Men's Freestyle Wrestling at the

1948 Olympics 1948 Olympics may refer to: *The 1948 Winter Olympics, which were held in St. Moritz, Switzerland *The 1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an internation ...

Biography

Gazanfer Bilge was born July 23, 1924 in

Karamürsel Karamürsel is a town and district located in northwestern Turkey, on the coast of the Bay of Izmit in the province of Kocaeli. Before its conquest by the Ottomans it used to be called by the Greek name of Praenetos (Πραινετός in Greek ...

, Kocaeli. He began wrestling in his age of 17, and was admitted to the national team during his military service. After winning the European champion title, he became the first Olympic gold medalist for

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 ...

in freestyle wrestling in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Gazanfer Bilge retired in 1953 from active sports after his exclusion from participation at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952. The International Fair Play Committee (CIFP) in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

honored him with the "2002 Public relations - Service to Sports and Community Trophy". Gazanfer Bilge also owned a large overland coach business. He donated to the town where he was born and grown up a primary school for hearing-impaired students, a vocational school for physical education and sports at

Kocaeli University The Kocaeli University (KOU) is a state university in Kocaeli, Turkey. It was founded as the Academy of Engineering and Architecture of Kocaeli in 1976. The electrical and mechanical engineering departments, basic sciences, and department of m ...

, an orphanage and a building for homeless people. He also supported many young wrestlers and students with scholarships. A sports hall located in

Büyükçekmece Büyükçekmece is a district and municipality in the suburbs of Istanbul, Turkey on the Sea of Marmara coast of the European side, west of the city. It is largely an industrial area with a population of 380,000. The mayor is Hasan Akgün ( CHP) ...

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, opened in August 2006, is named after him as well.Fenerbahçe S.K. official website
In 1963 Bilge was imprisoned for a year after he shot fellow Olympian Adil Atan. He was married and had a son named Muzaffer Bilge.

Achievements

*1946 European Wrestling Championships in Stockholm, Sweden - gold *1948 Olympics - gold

Death

Gazanfer Bilge died on April 20, 2008 in

due to complications related to his liver.

Notes

References

Olympics DatabaseWho is who

External links

* 1924 births People from Karamürsel Olympic wrestlers of Turkey Wrestlers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Turkish male sport wrestlers Olympic gold medalists for Turkey Turkish people of Circassian descent 2008 deaths Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics {{Turkey-martialart-bio-stub