Gökhan Yavaşer

Gökhan Yavaşer (born January 1, 1978 in Sivas) is a retired amateur Turkish freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's light heavyweight category.[1] He produced a remarkable tally of four career medals, including a bronze in the 84-kg division at the 2005 Summer Universiade in İzmir, and also represented his nation Turkey at the 2004 Summer Olympics, finishing fifteenth in the process. Throughout his sporting career, Yavaser trained full-time as a member of the wrestling squad for Gebze Belediyesi SC İzmit, under his personal coach and mentor Turan Ceylan.[2]

Gökhan Yavaşer
Personal information
Full nameGökhan Yavaşer
Nationality Turkey
Born (1978-01-01) 1 January 1978
Sivas, Turkey
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Weight84 kg (185 lb)
Sport
SportWrestling
StyleFreestyle
CoachTuran Ceylan
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing  Turkey
Summer Universiade
2005 İzmir84 kg
European Championships
2004 Ankara84 kg
2006 Moscow84 kg
2009 Vilnius84 kg

Yavaser emerged himself into a sporting fame at the 2004 European Championships in Ankara, where he ousted his Georgian rival Revaz Mindorashvili in the final match 3–2, and ran off the mat for the gold medal in front of the home crowd.[3]

Four months later, Yavaser qualified for the Turkish squad in the men's 84 kg class at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Earlier in the process, he placed seventh from the 2003 World Wrestling Championships in New York City, New York, United States to earn a spot on the Turkish wrestling team to the Games.[4][5] Yavaser lost his opening match 6–0 to Ukraine's Taras Danko, but soared smoothly with an easy victory over Armenia's Mamed Aghaev, who was immediately disqualified for infringing the rules of the tournament. Placing second in the pool and fifteenth overall, Yavaser failed to advance to the quarterfinals.[6][7]

At the 2005 Summer Universiade in İzmir, Yavaser enchanted the home audience inside the hall, as he turned down South Korea's An Jae-Man on the ring for the bronze medal with an astounding 3–2 score.[8][9] The following year, Yavaser continued his medal streak with a silver in the same class at the European Championships in Moscow, before taking off his two-year break from wrestling to focus on personal commitments.

In 2009, Yavaser came out of retirement to pick up a bronze medal over Poland's Radosław Marcinkiewicz in the 84-kg class at the European Championships in Vilnius, Lithuania.[10]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Gökhan Yavaşer". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  2. "Gençlik ateşi yanacak mı?" [Youth fire will burn me?] (in Turkish). Milliyet. 2 August 2004. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  3. "Minderde altına hücum" [Gold rush on the mat] (in Turkish). Radikal. 25 April 2004. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  4. Abbott, Gary (18 July 2004). "Olympic Games preview at 84 kg/185 lbs. in men's freestyle". USA Wrestling. The Mat. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  5. Karadaş, Bülent (3 August 2004). "Atina Olimpiyatlarına katılacak kafile belirlendi" [Which of these delegates will participate at the Athens Olympics] (in Turkish). Zaman. Archived from the original on 9 August 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  6. "Wrestling: Men's Freestyle 84kg". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  7. "Tek savaşçı Polatçı" [Polatçı is the last man standing] (in Turkish). Sabah. 28 August 2004. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  8. "İzmir'de ilk altın" [First gold is awarded in Izmir] (in Turkish). Hürriyet. 14 August 2005. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  9. "Bingöl wins Turkey's first gold medal in 120-kilo freestyle wrestling". Hürriyet Daily News. 15 August 2005. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  10. "Kara ve Yavaşer'den bronz" [Kara and Yavaşer takes the bronze] (in Turkish). Hürriyet. 1 April 2009. Retrieved 9 August 2014.


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