Background
He was born 1934 in Çorak, a village of Çorum Province in northern Turkey as a member of a family, which immigrated from the Caucasus after 1864.
He was born 1934 in Çorak, a village of Çorum Province in northern Turkey as a member of a family, which immigrated from the Caucasus after 1864.
Mahmut Atalay began wrestling as a youngster in the traditional Turkish Karakucak Wrestling and then switched over to sports wrestling. In 1968, he was honored by the International Wrestling Federation FILA with the award "Most Technical Wrestler of the World". He retired from the active sports in 1968 after having represented his country more than 150 times successfully at international competitions, and served then for 16 more years as the trainer of the national team
Mahmut Atalay died on December 4, 2004 in Ankara following a heart attack.
1959 Mediterranean Games in Beirut, Lebanon - gold.
1959 Mediterranean Games in Beirut, Lebanon - gold 1961 World Champipnships in Tokyo, Japan - 4 th 1962 Balkan Championships in Istanbul, Turkey - gold 1963 World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria - bronze 1963 Mediterranean Games in Naples, Italy - gold 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan - bronze 1965 World Championships in Manchester, England - silver 1965 Balkan Championships in Yambol, Bulgaria - gold 1966 European Championships in Karlsruhe, Germany - silver 1966 World Championships in Toledo, Ohio, United States. - gold 1967 World Championships in New Delhi, India - 4th 1967 European Championships in Istanbul, Turkey - silver 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico - gold.
