Yasar Erkan

Career

Son of a renowned 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. Yaşar Erkan repeated his title wins in the following two years 1934 and 1935.

Achievements

• In 1933, he was admitted to the national team and won the Balkan Championship the same year. In 1936, he became the first ever Turkish sportsman to win a gold medal at the Olympics. Before retiring in 1940, he won the Balkan Championship once again in 1937 in İzmir.