Cavit Cav (1905 – 29 April 1982) was a Turkish Olympian road cyclist. He was born 1905 in

Selanik Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, then

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. Cavit Cav took up cycling, and won all the competitions he participated in. In 1924, he went to Paris, France, to represent Turkey at the Summer Olympics. However, he was not permitted to take part at the race because his bicycle did not meet the Olympic standards. The same year, the first Istanbul Championship and Turkish National Championship were held with lessons learnt from the Olympic standards. Cavit Cav won the Istanbul Race and became Turkish champion in the

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also trac ...

and endurance categories. He continued his success through 1932. He won also the

marathon race The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

s that began first in 1925 between Istanbul and

Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

and later extended to other cities. Cavit Cav wore the national jersey for the first time at the international competition with Bulgaria held 1927 in

Taksim Stadium Taksim Stadium () was the first football stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. Originally the 19th century Taksim Artillery Barracks ('' Taksim Topçu Kışlası'') it was transformed into a stadium in 1921 and was located next to today's Taksim Square. ...

, Istanbul. He participated at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

in Amsterdam, Netherlands with his brother Galip Cav in the Turkish team. In 1961, he intended to establish a bicycle manufacturing plant without success.

References

1905 births 1982 deaths Sportspeople from Thessaloniki People from Salonica vilayet Macedonian Turks Cyclists at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for Turkey Turkish male cyclists Fenerbahçe cyclists Greek emigrants to Turkey 20th-century Turkish sportsmen {{Turkey-cycling-bio-stub