Kazım Ayvaz

Kazım Ayvaz started wrestling in 1953 when he was 15-years-old. He wrestled exclusively in Greco-Roman, which is rare for Turkish wrestlers who mostly prefer freestyle. When he first took part in international championships, he became World Champion in Budapest in 1958, at the age of 20. His toughest rival in his own country at the time was Mithat Bayrak, the double Olympic champion from 1956 and 1960 in the welterweight division.

Since he lost to Bayrak in the elimination for the 1960 Roma Olympics, Ayvaz competed at Roma as a middleweight and placed only fourth. Four years later, he came through with gold in Tokyo, that time wrestling as a lightweight after FILA re-configured the weight classes in 1962. His gold medal was a bit of an upset after losing at the 1963 World Championships to outsiders Anastasios Mousidis (GRE) and Roger Skauen (NOR). Ayvaz remained active until 1969 but could not repeat his great successes from the early 1960s.

After completing his active wrestling career, Ayvaz was part of the coaching staff of the Turkish national wrestling team for many years. For his services to wrestling, he was inducted into the FILA International Wrestling Hall of Fame in September 2011.