Kırıkkale
Kırıkkale is a city in the Central Anatolia Region, Turkey, Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Kırıkkale Province and Kırıkkale District.1997 World Wrestling Championships, and later represented as part of the Turkish team in two editions of the Olympic Games (2000 and 2004). Before his sporting career ended shortly after the
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece.
The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
, Yildiz trained as a member of the wrestling squad for the Istanbul Metropolitan Sports Club (), under his longtime coach Gazi Özbilgin.
Yildiz emerged himself into a sporting fame at the
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
Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and university city a ...
, where he ousted his former Yugoslav rival
Senad Rizvanović
Senad Rizvanović (April 24, 1968) is a Yugoslav former wrestler who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were a ...
for the bronze medal in the 54-kg division. Two months later, Yildiz celebrated his first victory for the Turks with a prestigious gold medal over Armenia's Vahan Juharyan on his final match 1–0 at the
World Championships
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 ...
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...
in
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, Yildiz qualified for the Turkish squad in the men's bantamweight division (54 kg). In the prelim pool, he lost his opening match 10–0 to eventual Olympic silver medalist
Lázaro Rivas
Lázaro Rivas Scull (4 April 1975 – 22 December 2013)Muere astro olímpico por mal servicio urgencias (Lázaro Rivas' obituary). ''CubaNet''. 27 December 2013. /translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=https://www.cubanet.org/destacados/m ...
of Cuba on technical superiority, but picked up a tremendous victory over New Zealand's Jotham Pellew by a rare 16–0 thrashing. Facing against Azerbaijan's Natig Eyvazov to close the pool, Yildiz could not turn down his opponent on the ring, and lost the match by a comfortable 3–0 decision. Placing third in the pool and eleventh overall, Yildiz failed to advance to the medal rounds.
Determined to return to the Olympic scene and medal, Yildiz entered the
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece.
The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
in
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
on his second debut, as a 30-year-old veteran, in the men's 55 kg class. Earlier in the process, he placed second behind U.S. wrestler and 1996 Olympic silver medalist
Brandon Paulson
Brandon Douglas Paulson (born October 22, 1973) is a former Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler and current wrestling coach.Born in Coon Rapids, Minnesota,Paulson is a 1992 graduate of Anoka High School. At Anoka High, Paulson was a three time stat ...
from the Olympic Qualification Tournament in
Novi Sad
Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...
,
Serbia and Montenegro
The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...
to guarantee his spot on the Turkish wrestling team to the Games. Yildiz started the prelim pool with a 4–1 defeat to Georgian neophyte Irakli Chochua. He bounced back to dismantle Lithuanian teen Svajūnas Adomaitis with a 3–1 verdict, but his performance was not enough to put him again into the medal rounds, leaving the Games empty-handed in twelfth position.
Since his sporting career shortly ended after the
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece.
The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
, Yildiz has served as one of the assistant coaches for the national team, and later became the vice-president of the Turkish Wrestling Federation (). Since 2007, Yildiz is also married to fellow 2004 Olympian and race walker
Yeliz Ay
Yeliz Ay (born 9 November 1977 in Ankara, Turkey) is a Turkish female racewalker. She studied at Süleyman Demirel University.
She was the winner of the 5th Royal Leamington Spa EAA Race Walking Grand Prix in 2004, clocking 1:43.15. Ay was named ...