Mahmut Demir (21 January 1970 in

Amasya Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey and is the capital of Amasya Province, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th e ...

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

), is a former

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

Olympic, World and European champion sports in the super heavyweight class. He won the gold medal at the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in Men's

Freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling ...

Wrestling career

He was born on 21 January 1970 in

Suluova Suluova (Ancient Greek: Αργουμα, Argouma and Latin: Arguma) is a town and district of Amasya Province of Turkey, located on high ground inland within the central Black Sea region. It covers an area of 516km², and the population (2010) is 47 ...

district of

Amasya Province Amasya Province ( tr, ) is a province of Turkey, situated on the Yeşil River in the Black Sea Region to the north of the country. The provincial capital is Amasya, the antique ''Amaseia'' mentioned in documents from the era of Alexander the Gre ...

in northern Turkey. Demir started wrestling in 1984. In a short time he developed into an excellent freestyle wrestler who soon moved to the top Turkish club "TEDAS" Ankara. At a height of 1.84 m, he soon grew into super heavyweight via heavyweight, usually weighing in at around 120 kg. His coaches were Alaattin Yıldırım and Nabi Bayram and national coach Yakup Topuz. Demir started his international wrestling career at the age of 16 with a 2nd place at the Balkan Junior Championships in Sonbor. From 1986 to 1990 he then competed regularly at the Junior World and European Championships. In 1990, he won the title of European Junior Heavyweight Champion. He made his senior debut with a 5th place in the heavyweight division at the 1989 World Championships in Martigny/Switzerland. He achieved this place with a 2:0 points victory over Sandor Kiss from Hungary. At the 1990 European Wrestling Championships in Poznan, Demir won his first senior medal with a 3rd place in the heavyweight category. In the fight for this bronze medal he defeated the junior world champion Heiko Balz from the German Democratic Republic. In 1991 Demir won another bronze medal at the European Championships in Stuttgart, but this time in the super heavyweight division. In a preliminary round fight he suffered a shoulder defeat at the hands of the German champion Andreas Schröder. In 1992, the year of the Olympics, Demir was runner-up in the European super heavyweight championship in Kaposvár. In the final he was again beaten by Andreas Schröder. At the Olympic Games in Barcelona, he narrowly missed out on a medal with a 4th place after losing to David Gobejishvili from The Unified Team and Jeff Thue from Canada. Mahmut Demir's most successful years began after the 1992 Olympic Games. As early as 1993 he became European super heavyweight champion in Istanbul with a victory over Murabi Valiev from the Ukraine. In 1994 he finished 2nd at the European Championships in Rome, this time behind Valiev , but was able to celebrate winning his first world title at the World Championships in Istanbul. In the final he defeated Olympic champion

Bruce Baumgartner Bruce Robert Baumgartner (born November 2, 1960) is a retired American freestyle wrestler. He is the current assistant vice president for university advancement and former athletic director at the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania near Erie, Pe ...

from the USA 1:0 on points. In 1995 Demir won against Murabi Valiev in Freiburg and thus his second European Championship title. At the World Championships of the same year in Atlanta, he lost to

and finished 5th. The Olympic year 1996 was the highlight of Mahmut Demir's career. In the spring he became European champion for the third time in Budapest in superior style and won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Atlanta. In the final he defeated Aleksey Medvedev from Belarus, the son of the Olympic champion

Aleksandr Medved Aleksandr Vasiliyevich Medved (born 16 September 1937) is a Ukrainian-born Soviet Belarusian retired freestyle wrestler who competed for the Soviet Union and was named "one of the greatest wrestlers in history" by FILA, the sport's governing bod ...

, 3:0 on points. After this victory, Demir retired from active wrestling. He is now a businessman in Amasya. He is married and has with two children. A sports hall in his hometown Suluova is named after him, where the 2006 European Champion Clubs Freestyle Wrestling Cup was held.https://yandex.com.tr/harita/org/mahmut_demir_kapali_spor_salonu/56011207829/?ll=35.661527%2C40.827463&z=16

Achievements

* 1986 Balkan Juniors Championship in

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- silver (130 kg) * 1986 World Juniors Championship in

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, FR Germany - 6th (100 kg) * 1986 European Escoir Championship in

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, Sweden - 4th (100 kg) * 1987 Balkan Juniors Championship in

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, Greece - silver (130 kg) * 1987 European Championship in

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- bronze (115 kg) * 1988 European Escoir Championship in

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- 5th (130 kg) * 1988 European Juniors Championship in Constanţa,

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- silver (100 kg) * 1989 World Escoir Championship in

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- silver (100 kg) * 1989 World Championship in

Martigny Martigny (; german: Martinach, ; la, Octodurum) is the capital city of the district of Martigny, canton of Valais, Switzerland. It lies at an elevation of , and its population is approximately 15000 inhabitants (''Martignerains'' or "Octodurie ...

, Switzerland - 5th (100 kg) * 1990 Balkan Juniors Championship in

Sakarya Sakarya may refer to: Places * Sakarya Province, in Turkey ** Sakarya (electoral district) ** Sakarya University * Sakarya (continent), a small continent 90 million years ago * Sakarya River, in Turkey * Sakarya, Polatlı, a village in Ankara Pr ...

- gold (100 kg) * 1990 European Escoir Championship in ?,

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- gold (100 kg) * 1990 European Championship in

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- bronze (100 kg) * 1990 World Championship in

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, Japan - 7th (100 kg) * 1990 World Cup in

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, United States - bronze * 1991 World Championship in

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- 5th (130 kg) * 1991

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, Greece - gold (130 kg) * 1991 European Championship in

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, Germany - bronze (130 kg) * 1992 World Cup in

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Russia - 4th * 1992 European Championship in

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, Hungary - silver (130 kg) * 1992

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, Spain - 4th (130 kg) * 1993 European Championship in

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- gold (130 kg) * 1994 European Championship in

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, Italy - silver (130 kg) * 1994 World Championship in

- gold (130 kg) * 1995 European Championship in

Fribourg , neighboring_municipalities= Düdingen, Givisiez, Granges-Paccot, Marly, Pierrafortscha, Sankt Ursen, Tafers, Villars-sur-Glâne , twintowns = Rueil-Malmaison (France) , website = www.ville-fribourg.ch , Location of , Location of () () o ...

, Switzerland - gold (130 kg) * 1995 World Cup in

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, United States - bronze (130 kg) * 1995 World Championship in

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, United States - 5th (130 kg) * 1996 European Championship in

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, Hungary - gold (130 kg) * 1996

, United States - gold (130 kg)

References

External links

Olympics Database

Who is who

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demir, Mahmut 1970 births Living people People from Amasya Wrestlers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Turkish male sport wrestlers Olympic gold medalists for Turkey Olympic wrestlers of Turkey Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Turkey Competitors at the 1991 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in wrestling 20th-century Turkish people 21st-century Turkish people