Nationality Turkish Event(s) Lightweight Role Olympic athlete Retired 1969 | Country Turkey Name Kazim Ayvaz Residence Sweden | |
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Born March 10, 1938 (age 86) ( 1938-03-10 ) Rize, Turkey Awards Milliyet Sports Award for Athlete of the Year Olympic medals Wrestling at the 1964 summer Olympics - Men\'s Greco-Roman Lightweight | ||
Kazım Ayvaz (March 10, 1938 in Rize, Turkey), is a former 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 twice World champion.
He was born 1938 in Rize of north-eastern Turkey. He began wrestling 1953 at his age of 15 in the "İstanbul Güreş İhtisas Kulübü", a club in Fatih, Istanbul specialized in wrestling.
He won the gold medal at the 1958 World Wrestling Championships in Budapest in 73 kg. Greco-Roman wrestling, ahead of silver medalist Grigory Gamarnik of the USSR and bronze medalist Valeriu Bularca of Romania.
Representing his country in Greco-Roman style wrestling, he participated at three consecutive Olympics in 1960, 1964 and 1968, however was successful only in Tokyo. From 1964 on, Kazım Ayvaz could not repeat his victorious matches. He retired from the active sports in 1969 and served from then on as a trainer in Sweden, where he emigrated after the 1968 Olympics.
He is married and has three children. Kazım Ayvaz lives in Sweden.