Hamza Yerlikaya (born June 6, 1976, in

Kadıköy Kadıköy (), known in classical antiquity and during the Roman and Byzantine eras as Chalcedon ( gr, Χαλκηδών), is a large, populous, and cosmopolitan district in the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey, on the northern shore of the Sea o ...

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 ...

) is a Turkish

Graeco-Roman The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were di ...

style

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spor ...

. He is a two-time (in 1996 and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

)

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

champion, three-time

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

(1993, 1995, and 2005), and the first Turkish wrestler to become European champion a record eight times, a feat that has since been matched by

Rıza Kayaalp Rıza Kayaalp (; born 10 October 1989) is a Turkish wrestler competing in the 130 kg division of Greco-Roman wrestling. 5 times world (2011,2015,2017,2019,2022) and 11 times European champions (2010,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2 ...

. He was named ''The Wrestler of the century'' in 1996 by the

International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(FILA). A sports complex in

Gaziosmanpaşa Gaziosmanpaşa (; old name: ''Taşlıtarla'') is a developing working class municipality (belediye) and district of Istanbul, Turkey, on its European side. With a population of 400,000 plus, it is one of the most populous districts. In 2009 Gazios ...

district of Istanbul is named after him.

Early life

His family was originally from

Sivas Sivas (Latin and Greek: ''Sebastia'', ''Sebastea'', Σεβάστεια, Σεβαστή, ) is a city in central Turkey and the seat of Sivas Province. The city, which lies at an elevation of in the broad valley of the Kızılırmak river, is ...

, but they moved to Istanbul three months prior to Hamza's birth. His father Mustafa Yerlikaya is also a wrestler but was no longer active by the time Hamza was born. He started wrestling aged 11 encouraged by his father and inspired by his elder brother Muttalip Yerlikaya who is also a wrestler with international success.

International wrestling career

Hamza Yerlikaya's first international competition was in 1991 World Cadets Wrestling Championships in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada, in which he got the fourth place. His first senior international event was the 1993 European Wrestling Championships in Istanbul where he got the second place, losing to Thomas Zander in the finals. He surprised some of the spectators who thought this was a coincidence by winning the gold medal in

1993 World Wrestling Championships The following is the final results of the 1993 World Wrestling Championships. Men's freestyle competition were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Men's Greco-Roman competition were held in Stockholm, Sweden and Women's competition were held in Stave ...

in Stockholm, Sweden at the age of 17, and hence becoming the youngest ever World Champion in wrestling. As his age allowed, in some years he participated in seniors, juniors as well as cadets events. He won the World Championship again in 1995 and went on to win his first Olympic gold medal in Atlanta 1996 at the age of 20. Yerlikaya competed in every category in Greco-Roman wrestling championships both domestically and internationally thanks to his young age. He continued collecting medals, most of which were gold. Besides, he was officially working for the State Railways, which meant that he received a salary for his wrestling. Yerlikaya joined the army to fulfill his military duty in 1996, during which he attended the Atlanta Olympics in Georgia, U.S. and won the gold medal in the 82-kilogram weight category. This also meant another record since no other soldier has ever won a gold medal in a civil championship. He repeated his success four years later in

Sydney 2000 The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

and carried the flag for Turkey at the Sydney 2000 opening ceremony. Since then he has won three more World Championships (2002, 2003 and (at 96 kg) 2005). He has won the European Seniors Championship eight times (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2006). He competed in 84 kg Men's Greco-Roman Wrestling for Turkey in

2004 Summer Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

and placed 4th. Hamza Yerlikaya married Ebru Küçük in 2010, and they have two children. Yerlikaya quit wrestling in 2007 due to severe neck fractures. In the same year, he was elected as a Member of Parliament from Sivas province for the Justice and Development Party. Yerlikaya worked as a consultant in the General Director's Office for Youth and Sports, and he was also a member of the Turkish International Olympic Committee (IOC). He managed the Turkish Wrestling Federation as chairman before resigning in 2015. He is now one of the head consultants of the Presidency of the Turkish Republic.

Affiliations and coaching

* Between years 1986-1996 he was in ''Istanbul Demirspor'' club and was coached by Salih Bora and Muzaffer Aydın. * He did his

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job ( volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require ...

in 1996-1997 and is the only Turkish athlete that won a medal in Olympic Games during military service. * He was coached by Salih Bora since 1997. * In years 1998-1999 he was in ''Emlakbank'' club. * Since 1999 he is wrestling for ''Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality''. * Hakki Basar started coaching him in 2004.

Personal chronology

* 1986: Begins wrestling at age of eleven * 1991: Places fourth in first international competition, World Cadets Wrestling Championships in Quebec, Canada * 1993: Wins gold medal in World Wrestling Championships in Stockholm, Sweden, at age seventeen; breaks record for youngest champion ever * 1996: Wins first Olympic gold medal in Atlanta Olympics * 2000: Wins second Olympic gold medal in Sydney, Australia * 1996–2006: Wins eight European championships * 2007: Withdraws from international competition to undergo neck surgery

Major international achievements

In reverse chronological order: * 2006 European Championship in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

- gold (96 kg) * 2006 World Cup in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

- gold (96 kg) * 2005 World Championship in

- gold (96 kg) * 2005 European Championship in

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

- gold (96 kg) * 2004 Olympics in

- 4th (84 kg) * 2003 World Championship in Créteil, Paris in

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 ...

- 7th (84 kg) * 2002 World Cup in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

- silver (96 kg) * 2002 World Championship in

- 6th (84 kg) * 2002 European Championship in Seinäjoki,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

- gold (84 kg) * 2001 World Championship in Patras in

- 9th (85 kg) * 2001 World Cup in Levallois-Perret, Paris,

- 5th (97 kg) * 2001 European Championship in

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 ...

- gold (85 kg) * 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia - gold (85 kg) * 1999 World Championship in

- 21st (85 kg) * 1999 European Championship in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

- gold (85 kg) * 1998 World Championship in Gävle, Sweden - 5th (85 kg) * 1998 European Championship in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

- gold (85 kg) * 1997 World Cup in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

- gold (85 kg) * 1997 World Championship in

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

- silver (85 kg) *

1997 Mediterranean Games The XIII Mediterranean Games, commonly known as the 1997 Mediterranean Games, were the 13th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Bari, Italy, from 13 to 25 June 1997, where 2,956 athletes (2,166 men and 790 women) from 21 countries partici ...

in Bari,

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 ...

- gold (85 kg) * 1997 European Championship in

Kouvola Kouvola () is a city and municipality in southeastern Finland. It is located along the Kymijoki River in the region of Kymenlaakso, kilometers east of Lahti, west of Lappeenranta and northeast of the capital, Helsinki. With Kotka, Kouvola is ...

- gold (85 kg) * 1996 Olympics in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

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- gold (82 kg) * 1996 European Championship in

- gold (82 kg) * 1995 World Championship in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

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- gold (82 kg) * 1995 World Espoir Championship in

- bronze (82 kg) * 1995 European Championship in

Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzer ...

- 7th (82 kg) * 1994 World Championship in

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

- 12th (82 kg) * 1994 World Juniors Championship in

- gold (88 kg) * 1994 European Espoir Championship in

- gold (82 kg) * 1994 European Championship in

- 5th (82 kg) * 1993 World Championship in Stockholm, Sweden - gold (82 kg) * 1993 European Juniors Championship in

Götzis Götzis is a town in the western Austrian state of Vorarlberg. The Alpine Rhine valley municipality belongs to the district of Feldkirch. Population Events The town is well known for its annual hypo-combined events meeting, the so-called Hyp ...

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- gold (81 kg) * 1993 European Championship in

- silver (82 kg) *

1993 Mediterranean Games The XII Mediterranean Games, commonly known as the 1993 Mediterranean Games, were the 12th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Languedoc-Roussillon, France, from 16 June to 27 June 1993, where 2,598 athletes (1,994 men and 604 women) fro ...

Languedoc-Roussillon Languedoc-Roussillon (; oc, Lengadòc-Rosselhon ; ca, Llenguadoc-Rosselló) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania. It comprised five departments, and b ...

- bronze (82 kg) * 1992 World Cadets Championship in

- gold (76 kg) * 1992 World Juniors Championship in

Santiago de Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the secon ...

, Colombia - silver (74 kg) * 1991 World Cadets Championship in

Alma, Quebec Alma (2021 Town population: 30,331; CA Population 33,018; UA Population 26,016) is a town in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, in the Canadian province of Quebec. Geography Alma is located on the southeast coast of Lac Saint-Jean where it flows into t ...

, Canada - 4th (65 kg) All listed events are Greco-Roman style wrestling.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yerlikaya, Hamza 1976 births Sportspeople from Istanbul Living people Turkish sportsperson-politicians Olympic gold medalists for Turkey Wrestlers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Turkish male sport wrestlers Wrestlers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Deputies of Sivas Olympic medalists in wrestling Olympic wrestlers for Turkey People from Kadıköy Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Turkey Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Turkey Competitors at the 1993 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 1997 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in wrestling 20th-century Turkish people 21st-century Turkish people