Kenan Şimşek (born 1968 in

Ordu Ordu () or Altınordu is a port city on the Black Sea coast of Turkey and the capital of Ordu Province. The city forms the urban part of the Altınordu, Ordu, Altınordu district, with a population of 235,096 in 2023. Name Kotyora, the origina ...

, Turkey) is a former Turkish Olympian

wrestler Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves diffe ...

competing in the 90 kg division of freestyle. He was a member of the club Ankara Büyükşehir Belediyesi SK. Born 1968 in

, northern Turkey, Kenan Şimşek began his wrestling career at

Samsun Samsun is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. The urban area recorded a population of 738,692 in 2022. The city is the capital of Samsun Province which has a population of ...

in 1984.

Achievements

He was Olympic silver medalist in

Freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman. scholastic wrestling, High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the U ...

in 1992. He placed sixth at the

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

and 1991 World Wrestling Championships. Şimşek is the holder of three bronze medals won at the

European Wrestling Championships The European Wrestling Championships is the second oldest international wrestling competition of the modern world and the main wrestling championships in Europe. It predates World Wrestling Championships and other regional wrestling championships ...

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

(1990), Kaposvar,

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much 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 south, Croatia and ...

(1992) and

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey (1993). He captured the gold medal at the

1991 Mediterranean Games The XI Mediterranean Games, commonly known as the 1991 Mediterranean Games, were the 11th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Athens, Greece, from 28 June to 12 July 1991, where 2,762 athletes (2,176 men and 586 women) from 18 countries p ...

held 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 ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Oil wrestling

Kenan Şimşek performed also Turkish traditional sport of

oil wrestling Oil wrestling (), also called Turkish oil wrestling, is the national sport of Turkey. Oil wrestling includes oil and traditional dress, and its rules are comparable to karakucak. In Assyria, ancient Egypt, and Babylonia, oil wrestling was perf ...

(). He participated at the prestigious

Kırkpınar Kırkpınar (Turkish language, Turkish for "forty springs") is a Turkey, Turkish oil wrestling (yağlı güreş) tournament where pehlivans (wrestlers) compete for three days. It is held annually, usually in late June, near Edirne, Turkey sinc ...

oil wrestling competitions held every year in

Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

. After three times becoming the third ranked in 1996, 1998 and 2001, he won the "Başpehlivan" (literally: Master wrestler) title at the 642th edition of Kırkpınar in 2003. In 2005, he became again "Başpehlivan" at the 5th Golden Hazelnut Festival held in

Çatalpınar Çatalpınar is a municipality and district of Ordu Province, Turkey. Its area is 101 km2, and its population is 13,025 (2022). The town lies at an elevation of . The local economy depends on agriculture, particularly growing hazelnuts and gr ...

. He repeated his "Master wrestler" title gain at the 16th Kumru Düzova Oil Wrestling Competition at his hometown in 2008, which he had won already in 2001. In 2010, Şimşek took the "Başpehlivan" title of the

Hıdırellez Hıdırellez or Hıdrellez ( or ''Hıdrellez''; or ''Xıdır Nəbi''; ; Romani language: ''Ederlezi'') is a folk holiday celebrated as the day on which the prophets Al-Khidr (''Hızır'') and Elijah#Islamic tradition, Elijah (''İlyas'') met o ...

Festival held in Sakarlı village of

Terme Terme (formerly spelled ''Termeh''; Ancient Greek: Thèrmae, Θέρμαι) is a municipality and district of Samsun Province, Turkey. Its area is 548 km2, and its population is 71,092 (2022). Terme is located on Terme River, about 5 k ...

in Samsun.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simsek, Kenan 1968 births Sportspeople from Ordu Living people Olympic wrestlers for Turkey Wrestlers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Turkish male sport wrestlers Olympic silver medalists for Turkey Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Turkey Competitors at the 1991 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in wrestling European Wrestling Championships medalists 20th-century Turkish sportsmen 21st-century Turkish sportsmen