Yaşar Erkan

Yaşar Erkan (30 April 1911 in Erzincan – 18 May 1986) was a Turkish sports wrestler, who won the first ever Olympic gold medal for Turkey in the Featherweight class of Men's Greco-Roman Wrestling. Yaşar Erkan is the first Olympic champion in Turkish history.[1]

Yaşar Erkan
Erkan at the 1936 Olympics
Personal information
Born30 April 1911 (1911-04-30)
Erzincan, Ottoman Empire
Died18 May 1986 (aged 75)
İstanbul, Turkey
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight62 kg (137 lb; 9.8 st)
Sport
SportWrestling
Event(s)Freestyle
Greco-Roman
Medal record
Representing  Turkey
Freestyle wrestling
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1936 Berlin 61 kg
Balkan Championships
Gold medal – first place 1933 Istanbul 61 kg
Gold medal – first place 1934 Istanbul61 kg
Gold medal – first place 1935 Istanbul61 kg
Gold medal – first place 1937 İzmir61 kg

Wrestling career

Son of a wrestler for yağlı güreş (oil wrestling), he moved with his family from their village İspidi in the Refahiye district of Erzincan Province to Istanbul at 4 years of age. He started wrestling at Kumkapı Wrestling Club and grew up here. His father Ali Efendi was also one of the famous wrestlers of their village. Yaşar Erkan was selected to the Turkish National Wrestling Team in 1933 and won the Balkan Championship in the same year. He also held this title in 1934 and 1935. In 1936, he became the first ever Turkish sportsman to win a gold medal at the Olympics.[2]

"You are small, but you have done an important job for the country. Now your name has gone down in Turkish sports history. Long live Yaşar!". The telegram is from Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Later, Erkan was presented with a house by Atatürk, and the athlete's surname "Naçar", meaning helpless, was changed by Atatürk to "Erkan", meaning a prominent member of a community. Yaşar Erkan was also a tailor.[3]

Erkan died on May 18, 1986. His grave is in Merkezefendi Cemetery in Zeytinburnu.[4]

References
  1. "International Wrestling Database".
  2. https://web.archive.org/web/20161203040725/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/er/yasar-erkan-1.html
  3. https://www.aydinlik.com.tr/koseyazisi/ilk-altin-adamimiz-yasar-erkan-314725
  4. https://www.biyografya.com/biyografi/21870
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