Mithat Bayrak (3 March 1929 – 20 April 2014) was a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

sports wrestler and trainer, who won two consecutive gold medals in the

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

class of Men's

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman world , also Greco-Roman civilization, Greco-Roman culture or Greco-Latin culture (spelled Græco-Roman or Graeco-Roman in British English), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and co ...

Wrestling at the

1956 Olympics 1956 Olympics refers to both: *The 1956 Winter Olympics, which were held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy *The 1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were ...

and

1960 Olympics The 1960 Olympics may refer to: *The 1960 Winter Olympics, which were held in Squaw Valley, United States *The 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 19 ...

Career

Mithat Bayrak lived his youth in

Sakarya Sakarya may refer to: Places * Sakarya (continent), a small continent 90 million years ago * Sakarya, Ardanuç, a village in Artvin Province, Turkey * Sakarya, Polatlı, a village in Ankara Province, Turkey * Sakarya gas field, in the Black Sea * ...

. He was interested in oil wrestling in his youth, but switched to wrestling on the mat in 1949. He joined the Sakarya Wrestling Club. After attracting attention with his successful performance, he was included in the Turkish national wrestling team and worked with important coaches such as

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

, Mehmet Oktav, Hüseyin Erkmen and

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 1949 ...

. He wrestled only in the Greco-Roman style. He competed in a major international tournament for the first time at the Mediterranean Games in 1955, where he had to settle for fifth place in the heavyweight division. At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, he won the gold medal in the 73 kg Greco-Roman style, defeating Hungarian Miklós Szilvásy in the first round by a 2–1 decision, Bulgarian Mitko Petkov in the second round, American Jay Holt in the third round by a 3–0 decision, and Per Berlin of Sweden and Soviet Vladimir Maneyev in the final round by a 3–0 decision. In the qualifiers held in Turkey for the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, he defeated

Kazım Ayvaz Kazım Ayvaz (March 10, 1938 – January 18, 2020) was a Turkish Olympic medalist sports wrestler in the lightweight class and a trainer. He won the gold medal in Men's Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1964 Olympics and became world champion twic ...

in the welterweight division and was selected for the team. In the 1960 Olympics, he won the gold medal in the second Olympics by defeating Yugoslav Stevan Horvat in the first round by decision of the referee, Austrian Franz Berger in the second round, Swedish Bertil Nyström in the third round by decision of the referee, Hungarian Antal Rizmayer in the fifth round by decision of the referee, Soviet Hryhoriy Hamarnik in the sixth round, and Günther Maritschnigg of the United Germany Team in the seventh round. Olympic Games at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, he tied with Sweden's Bertil Nyström in the first round, defeated Finland's Matti Laakso by decision in the second round, and lost to Rudolf Vesper of Team United Germany by decision in the third round. He finished eleventh at the Olympics with six penalty points at the end of the third round. Bayrak then ended his international career as a wrestler and emigrated to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1961. He continued to wrestle for KSV Witten 07 for about 20 years, also working as a coach for the club. Together with his wife he ran several restaurants in Witten. He lived in Herdecke, worked as a youth coach at KSV Witten 07 and was the father of a son. Bayrak was inducted into the FILA International Wrestling Hall of Fame in September 2011 for his services to the sport of wrestling. 20 April 2014, the Turkish Wrestling Federation announced that Bayrak, who was residing in Germany, died at the age of 85 due to an illness. Mithat Bayrak was buried at the Wrestling Foundation cemetery after the noon prayer at Ankara Karşıyaka Mosque.

Achievements

* 1955

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fi ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

– 4th (Greco-Roman Welterweight) * 1956

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia – gold (Greco-Roman Welterweight) * 1958 World Wrestling Championships in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

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 ...

– 10th (Greco-Roman Middleweight) * 1959 Wrestling Tournament in

Savona Savona (; ) is a seaport and (municipality) in the west part of the northern Italian region of Liguria, and the capital of the Province of Savona. Facing the Ligurian Sea, Savona is the main center of the Riviera di Ponente (the western se ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

– gold (Greco-Roman Middleweight) * 1959, Wrestling Tournament in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

– silver (Greco-Roman Welterweight) * 1959

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

– silver (Greco-Roman Welterweight) * 1959 Balkan Wrestling Championships in

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 – silver (Greco-Roman Middleweight) * 1960

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

– gold (Greco-Roman Welterweight)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bayrak, Mithat 1929 births 2014 deaths Sportspeople from Adapazarı Wrestlers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Turkish male sport wrestlers Olympic gold medalists for Turkey Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Turkey Competitors at the 1959 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in wrestling 20th-century Turkish sportsmen 21st-century Turkish sportsmen