Rıza Kayaalp (; born 10 October 1989) is a Turkish

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 sport ...

competing in the 130 kg division of

Greco-Roman wrestling Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), classic wrestling (Euro English) or French wrestling (in Russia until 1948) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first mod ...

. 5 times world (2011,2015,2017,2019,2022) and 11 times European champions (2010,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2021,2022). He won silver at the 2016 Summer Olympics and won bronze medals at the 2012 and 2020 Summer Olympics. He is a graduate of the

Aksaray University Aksaray University ( tr, Aksaray Üniversitesi) is a public higher educational institution established on March 17, 2006, in Aksaray, Central Anatolia in Turkey. Formerly it was a subunit of the Niğde University. The university has seven facult ...

Physical Education and Sports Academy and studies his master's degree at

Bozok University Bozok University ( tr, Bozok Üniversitesi) is a university located in Yozgat, Turkey. It was established in 2006. Affiliations The University is a member of the Balkan Universities Network and Caucasus University Association Caucasus Universi ...

Wrestling career

Kayaalp won a gold medal in

(120 kg division) at the

2009 Mediterranean Games The 2009 Mediterranean Games, officially the XVI Mediterranean Games ( it, XVI Giochi del Mediterraneo) and commonly known as Pescara 2009, was a multi-sport event held in Pescara, Italy, from 26 June to 5 July 2009. It was governed by the Inte ...

.Mediterranean Games 2009: Wrestling – KAYAALP Riza
(2009). Retrieved on 22 January 2011. He is also a world champion, beating

Mijaín López Mijaín López Núñez (born 20 August 1982) is a Cuban Greco-Roman wrestler. He is a four-time Olympic gold medalist, five-time World Champion, and five-time Pan American Games champion and is widely considered one of the greatest wrestlers of ...

on the finals of the

2011 World Wrestling Championships The 2011 World Wrestling Championships was held at the Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul, Turkey. The event took place between September 12 and September 18, 2011. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco-Roman Wome ...

Istanbul, Turkey Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. Kayaalp qualified for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, where he won bronze medal at Greco-Roman style in 120 kg. He was the flag bearer of

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 ...

at the opening ceremony of the

2013 Mediterranean Games The 2013 Mediterranean Games ( tr, 2013 Akdeniz Oyunları), officially known as the XVII Mediterranean Games ( tr, XVII Akdeniz Oyunları) and commonly known as Mersin 2013, was an international multi-sport event held from 20 to 30 June 2013 i ...

, where he won the gold medal in the 120 kg division by beating Radhwen Chebbi of Tunisia 2–0. At the 2013 European Wrestling Championships, Riza Kayaalp won a gold medal in the 120 kg division. At the European Wrestling Championship in 2014, Kayaalp won a gold medal. At the 2014 World Wrestling Championships, Kayaalp received a silver medal after losing to Mijain Lopez 2–0 in the final of the 130 kg Greco-Roman style division. At the 2016 European Wrestling Championships, Kayaalp won a gold medal. Kayaalp once again lost against his Cuban rival Mijain Lopez at the Rio de Janeiro Games. The Cuban, who lost to Kayaalp in last year's world finals, scored in only 15 seconds to essentially seal the match. He competed at the

Wrestling at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's Greco-Roman 130 kg Men's Greco-Roman 130 kilograms competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil took place on August 15 at the Carioca Arena 2 in Barra da Tijuca. This Greco-Roman wrestling competition consists of a single-elimination tourname ...

, winning the silver medal. Kayaalp won a gold medal, the seventh of his career, at the 2017 European Wrestling Championships in Serbia Kayaalp bagged the gold medal at the 2017 World Wrestling Championships in Paris. Competing in the 130 kg (286 pounds) Greco-Roman category, Kayaalp defeated his Estonian rival Heiki Nabi to become the world wrestling champion. Kayaalp has won the gold medal at the European Wrestling Championships in Kaspiysk in Russia's northern Caucasus Republic of Dagestan. Competing in the 130 kg category, Kayaalp defeated Russian opponent Vitalii Shchur by a 2–1 score. The victory marked Kayaalp's eighth European title – seven are consecutive – equalizing another Turkish wrestling legend Hamza Yerlikaya's record. Kayaalp became the European wrestling champion for the ninth time in the 2019 championships held in Bucharest, Romania. After defeating his Georgian rival, Iakobi Kajaia 3:0 in the finals, Kayaalp took the gold medal to become the 2019 champion in 130 kilogram category. Winning his ninth title, Kayaalp became the most decorated Turkish wrestlers in European tournaments. Kayaalp clinched gold at 2019 World Wrestling Championships. With a 3–1 win over Oscar Pino Hinds, Kayaalp became the first Turkish Greco-Roman wrestler to have won four world titles. With his latest title Kayaalp also surpassed wrestling greats Hamza Yerlikaya and Selçuk Çebi, who have three titles in Greco-Roman wrestling each. He also equalized Hüseyin Akbaş's record in freestyle wrestling. Kayaalp won another gold by beating his Estonian rival Heiki Nabi 3–1 in the Greco-Roman 130 kilos in China, at the International Military Sports Council (CISM) World Games, an Olympic event where soldiers compete. Kayaalp was chosen as the 2020 Athlete of the Year at the 66th Gillette Milliyet Athlete of the Year awards. Kayaalp clinched his 10th European wrestling title by beating Georgia's Iakobi Kajaia 3–1 in the

Greco-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 ...

130 kg final. Kayaalp had to wait until the final match of the day to claim his historic title. In the final, he faced Iakobi Kajaia from Georgia, the same wrestler he had defeated to win the 2019 European title. Kayaalp won the final 3–1 after scoring a takedown and one point for Kajaia's passivity. He gave up a point for his own inactivity in the second round. Rıza Kayaalp defeated Iran's Amin Mirzazadeh to win his third Olympic medal at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. In 2022, he won one of the bronze medals in his event at the Vehbi Emre & Hamit Kaplan Tournament, the first United World Wrestling Ranking Series event of the year, held in Istanbul, Turkey. He won the gold medal in the men's 130 kg event at the

2022 European Wrestling Championships The 2022 European Wrestling Championships was held from 28 March to 3 April 2022 in Budapest, Hungary. Belarusian and Russian wrestlers did not compete at the event after a ban as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Competition schedule ...

held in Budapest, Hungary. Kayaalp claimed a 4–0 victory over Danila Sotnikov from Italy in the 130 kg Greco-Roman division in Hungary's capital. Rıza Kayaalp won his eleventh gold medal in the 130 kg Greco-Roman division. He won the gold medal in the men's 130 kg event at the

Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series 2022 The Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series 2022 was a wrestling event held in Ostia (Rome), Ostia, Rome, Italy between 22 and 25 of June 2022. The third United World Wrestling Ranking Series event of the year, it featured multiple List of World and Olympi ...

, the third United World Wrestling Ranking Series event of the year, held in Rome, Italy. Kayaalp claimed a 4–0 victory over Sabah Shariati from Azerbaijan in the 130 kg Greco-Roman division. Rıza Kayaalp beats Amin Mirzazadeh of Iran in men's Greco-Roman 130 kg at 2022 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. Kayaalp bagged his fifth world championship as he won gold medal in men's Greco-Roman 120 kg at 2011 Istanbul and three golds in men's Greco-Roman 130 kg at 2015 Las Vegas, 2017 Paris and 2019 Nur-Sultan. Kayaalp became the first Turkish wrestler to win the world championship for the 5th time. Kayaalp, said he had been battling a shoulder injury and other ailments over the past two months during his preparation for Belgrade. "Preparing for the World Championships with the injuries was very hard for me, especially in the last training camp it is very important to stay injury free," Kayaalp said. "I knew that the injuries will affect me in the final fight, so I changed my tactic a little bit. My defense is very good and we knew that."

Major results

Wrestling record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kayaalp, Riza Living people 1989 births Wrestlers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic wrestlers of Turkey Sportspeople from Yozgat Olympic silver medalists for Turkey Olympic bronze medalists for Turkey Aksaray University alumni Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics European Games medalists in wrestling European Games gold medalists for Turkey Wrestlers at the 2015 European Games Turkish male sport wrestlers World Wrestling Championships medalists European champions for Turkey Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Turkey Competitors at the 2009 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 2013 Mediterranean Games Universiade medalists in wrestling Mediterranean Games medalists in wrestling Universiade gold medalists for Turkey European Wrestling Championships medalists Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Wrestlers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics European Wrestling Champions 21st-century Turkish people World Wrestling Champions

Wrestling career

Major results

Wrestling record

See also

References

External links