Ercan Yıldız

Ercan Yıldız (born May 29, 1974 in Kırıkkale) is a retired amateur Turkish Greco-Roman wrestler, who competed in the men's featherweight category.[1] Considered one of Turkey's most prominent wrestlers of his decade, Yildiz has produced a full set of three career medals in different color, including his prestigious gold from the 1997 World Wrestling Championships, and later represented as part of the Turkish team in two editions of the Olympic Games (2000 and 2004). Before his sporting career ended shortly after the 2004 Summer Olympics, Yildiz trained as a member of the wrestling squad for the Istanbul Metropolitan Sports Club (Turkish: İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor), under his longtime coach Gazi Özbilgin.[2][3]

Ercan Yıldız
Personal information
Full nameErcan Yıldız
Nationality Turkey
Born (1974-05-29) 29 May 1974
Kırıkkale, Turkey
Height1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Weight55 kg (121 lb)
Sport
SportWrestling
StyleGreco-Roman
Clubİstanbul B.B.
CoachGazi Özbilgin
Medal record
Men's Greco-Roman wrestling
Representing  Turkey
Mediterranean Games
1997 Bari54 kg
World Championships
1997 Wrocław54 kg
European Championships
2001 Istanbul54 kg

Yildiz emerged himself into a sporting fame at the 1997 Mediterranean Games in Bari, Italy, where he ousted his former Yugoslav rival Senad Rizvanović for the bronze medal in the 54-kg division. Two months later, Yildiz celebrated his first victory for the Turks with a prestigious gold medal over Armenia's Vahan Juharyan on his final match 1–0 at the World Championships in Wrocław, Poland.[4]

At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Yildiz qualified for the Turkish squad in the men's bantamweight division (54 kg). In the prelim pool, he lost his opening match 10–0 to eventual Olympic silver medalist Lázaro Rivas of Cuba on technical superiority, but picked up a tremendous victory over New Zealand's Jotham Pellew by a rare 16–0 thrashing.[5] Facing against Azerbaijan's Natig Eyvazov to close the pool, Yildiz could not turn down his opponent on the ring, and lost the match by a comfortable 3–0 decision. Placing third in the pool and eleventh overall, Yildiz failed to advance to the medal rounds.[6][7]

Determined to return to the Olympic scene and medal, Yildiz entered the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens on his second debut, as a 30-year-old veteran, in the men's 55 kg class. Earlier in the process, he placed second behind U.S. wrestler and 1996 Olympic silver medalist Brandon Paulson from the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Novi Sad, Serbia and Montenegro to guarantee his spot on the Turkish wrestling team to the Games.[8][9] Yildiz started the prelim pool with a 4–1 defeat to Georgian neophyte Irakli Chochua. He bounced back to dismantle Lithuanian teen Svajūnas Adomaitis with a 3–1 verdict, but his performance was not enough to put him again into the medal rounds, leaving the Games empty-handed in twelfth position.[10][11]

Since his sporting career shortly ended after the 2004 Summer Olympics, Yildiz has served as one of the assistant coaches for the national team, and later became the vice-president of the Turkish Wrestling Federation (Turkish: Türkiye Güreş Federasyonu, TGF).[12][13] Since 2007, Yildiz is also married to fellow 2004 Olympian and race walker Yeliz Ay.[14]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Ercan Yıldız". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  2. "Olimpiyatlar ve İstanbul BB" [Olympics and Istanbul B.B.] (in Turkish). İstanbul B.B. 20 February 2012. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  3. "Güreş Milli Takımı aday kadrosu belli oldu" [Candidates for the national wrestling team has been announced] (in Turkish). Hürriyet. 8 June 2001. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  4. Abbott, Gary (1 March 2000). "Many World & Olympic Champions expected at GR Olympic Qualifier in Colorado". USA Wrestling. The Mat. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  5. Maddaford, Terry (4 October 2000). "Olympics: How the Kiwis fared in Sydney". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  6. "Sıdney'de kara pazar: Üç galibiyet" [Land market in Sydney: Three wins] (in Turkish). Milliyet. 27 September 2000. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  7. "Sydney 2000: Wrestling – Bantamweight Greco-Roman (54kg)" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. pp. 97–98. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  8. Abbott, Gary (13 July 2004). "Olympic Games preview at 55 kg/121 lbs. in men's Greco-Roman". USA Wrestling. The Mat. Archived from the original on 7 June 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  9. Uluer, Serdar (3 August 2004). "Atina'ya 67 sporcu" [67 athletes to Athens] (in Turkish). Hürriyet. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  10. "Wrestling: Men's Greco-Roman 55kg". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  11. "Minderde iki yarı final" [On the mat, only two made the semifinals] (in Turkish). Hürriyet. 24 August 2004. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  12. "Turkish women warm up to wrestling more every year". Zaman. 3 March 2009. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  13. "Federasyon başkanları 'antrenör' oldu" [Federation presidents became "coaches"] (in Turkish). Posta. 5 August 2010. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  14. "'Ay Yıldız' yürüyor" [Ay-Yildiz walks] (in Turkish). Sabah. 1 August 2007. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
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