Hamza Yerlikaya

Hamza Yerlikaya

Personal information
Nationality	Turkish
Born	(1976-06-06) June 6, 1976 (age 40) Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	84 kg (185 lb)
Sport
Sport	Sport wrestling
Event(s)	Greco-Roman wrestling
Turned pro	1992
Retired	2007
Medal record Men's Greco-Roman Wrestling Olympic Games 2000 Sydney, Australia 85 kg 1996 Atlanta, Georgia, USA 82 kg World Championships 2006 Guangzhou, China 96 kg 2005 Budapest, Hungary 96 kg 1997 Wrocław, Poland 85 kg 1995 Prague, Czechoslovakia 85 kg 1993 , Sweden 82 kg World Cup 2006 Budapest, Hungary 96 kg 2002 Cairo, Egypt 96 kg 1997 Tehran, Iran 85 kg European Championships 2006 Moscow, Russia 96 kg 2005 Varna, Bulgaria 96 kg 2002 Seinäjoki, Finland 84 kg 2001 Istanbul, Turkey 85 kg 1999 Sofia, Bulgaria 85 kg 1998 Minsk, Belarus 85 kg 1997 Kouvola, Finland 85 kg 1996 Budapest, Hungary 82 kg 1993 Istanbul, Turkey 82 kg Mediterranean Games 1997 Bari, Italy 85 kg 1993 Languedoc-Roussillon, France 82 kg World Espoir Championships 1995 Tehran, Iran 82 kg European Espoir Championships 1994 Istanbul, Turkey 82 kg World Juniors Championships 1994 Budapest, Hungary 88 kg 1993 Götzis, Austria 81 kg 1992 Cali, Colombia 74 kg World Cadets Championships 1992 Istanbul, Turkey 76 kg

Hamza Yerlikaya (born June 6, 1976, in Kadıköy, Istanbul) is a Turkish Graeco-Roman style wrestler. He is a two-time (in 1996 and 2000) Olympic champion, three-time World Champion (1993, 1995, and 2005), and the only Turkish wrestler to ever become European champion eight times. He was named The Wrestler of the century in 1996 by the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA).

A sports complex in Gaziosmanpaşa district of Istanbul is named after him.

Between 2007-2011, he was a deputy of the ruling Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi.

His family was originally from Sivas, but they moved to Istanbul three months prior to Hamza's birth. His father Mustafa Yerlikaya is also a wrestler but was no longer active by the time Hamza was born. He started wrestling at age of 11 encouraged by his father and inspired by his elder brother Muttalip Yerlikaya who is also a wrestler with international success.

Hamza Yerlikaya's first international competition was in 1991 World Cadets Wrestling Championships in Quebec, Canada, in which he got the fourth place. His first senior international event was the 1993 European Wrestling Championships in Istanbul where he got the second place, losing to Thomas Zander in the finals. He surprised some of the spectators who thought this was a coincidence by winning the gold medal in 1993 World Wrestling Championships in , Sweden at the age of 17, and hence becoming the youngest ever World Champion in wrestling.

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