Yaşar Doğu (1913 – 8 January 1961) was a renowned Turkish Wrestler, World and Olympic champion in Greco-Roman and Freestyle of Circassian descent.

Biography

He was born in the village Karlı of Kavak district in

Samsun province Samsun Province ( tr, Samsun ili) is a Provinces of Turkey, province of Turkey on the Black Sea coast with a population of 1,252,693 (2010). Its adjacent provinces are Sinop Province, Sinop on the northwest, Çorum Province, Çorum on the west, A ...

to a family of Circassian origin. He began wrestling at his age of 15 in

yağlı güreş Oil wrestling ( tr, Yağlı güreş), also called grease wrestling, is a traditional Turkish sport, where participants, called ''pehlivan'' (wrestlers) or ''baspehlivan'' (master wrestlers), wrestle while covered in oil. Competitions are held in ...

(oil wrestling) and continued in this folk sports until he entered the military service. His sports wrestling career started 1936 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 ...

as he was discovered by the sports wrestler

Celal Atik 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 194 ...

. Yaşar Doğu was admitted to the national team in 1939. He participated at the European Championships held that year in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Norway and became silver medalist in Greco-Roman style, his only participation at any international competition missing the gold medal. He became Balkan, European and World champion besides Olympic gold medalist. Yaşar Doğu wrestled 47 times in the national team between 1939 and 1951, of which only one he lost. 33 of his matches he won by near-fall. All his 46 winning matches lasted 372 minutes in total, whereas the normal duration should be 690 minutes. After retiring from the active sports, he served as the trainer of the national team. He married Hayriye on 15 October 1937. Yaşar Doğu gave the name Gazanfer to one of his sons in admiration to his teammate

Gazanfer Bilge Gazanfer Bilge (July 23, 1924 – April 20, 2008) was a Turkish sports wrestler who won the gold medal in the Featherweight class of Men's Freestyle Wrestling at the 1948 Olympics. Biography Gazanfer Bilge was born July 23, 1924 in ...

. His son Gazanfer Doğu was educated in the US, and became a lecturer of physical education and sports at

Abant Izzet Baysal University Abant Izzet Baysal University ( tr, Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal Üniversitesi) is a public university in Bolu, Turkey. It was founded on 3 July 1992 by Izzet Baysal. It has campuses in the city center and three districts of Bolu (Gerede, Mengen, Mu ...

Bolu Bolu is a city in Turkey, and administrative center of the Bolu Province. The population is 131,264 (2012 census). The city has been governed by mayor Tanju Özcan ( CHP) since local elections in 2019. It was the site of Ancient Claudiopolis a ...

. Yaşar Doğu suffered a heart attack during the 1955 championships held in Sweden, where he was as the trainer of Turkey's wrestling team. He died on 8 January 1961 in

following a second heart attack.

Achievements

* 1939 European Wrestling Championships in

, Norway - silver (Greco-Roman style Lightweight) * 1940 Balkan Wrestling Championships in Istanbul, Turkey - gold (Greco-Roman style Lightweight) * 1946 European Wrestling Championships in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden - gold (Freestyle Welterweight) * 1947 European Wrestling Championships in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

- gold (Greco-Roman style Welterweight) * 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England - gold (Freestyle Welterweight) * 1949 European Wrestling Championships in Istanbul, Turkey - gold (Freestyle Middleweight) * 1951 World Wrestling Championships in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, Finland - gold (Freestyle Light heavyweight)

Legacy

* Yaşar Doğu Sports Hall, 1966-built venue with 1,500 seating capacity in downtown Samsun * Yaşar Doğu Wrestling Hall, 1989-built wrestling designated venue for 250 spectators in Samsun * Tekkeköy Yaşar Doğu Arena, 7,500-seat multi-purpose indoor venue in

Tekkeköy Tekkeköy is a district of Samsun Province in Turkey located on the western side of the Çarşamba Plain. The Mayor of Tekkeköy Municipality is Hasan Togar. Agriculture and animal breeding are the main sources of income. Black Sea Copper Works ...

district of

Samsun Province Samsun Province ( tr, Samsun ili) is a Provinces of Turkey, province of Turkey on the Black Sea coast with a population of 1,252,693 (2010). Its adjacent provinces are Sinop Province, Sinop on the northwest, Çorum Province, Çorum on the west, A ...

opened end March 2013

References

External links

Olympics Database

Who is who
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dogu, Yasar 1913 births 1961 deaths People from Kavak, Samsun Turkish people of Ubykh descent Olympic wrestlers of Turkey Wrestlers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Turkish male sport wrestlers Olympic gold medalists for Turkey Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Turkish people of Circassian descent