The defending Olympic champion, Taha AKGUL (TUR) will be making his third trip to the Games. The gold medalist from Rio qualified Turkey for the Tokyo Games after winning the silver medal at the 2019 World Championships. He lost to Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) 6-6 in the final at 125kg. Akgul, who has won two gold medals at the World Championships, is seeded number three for the Games and can clash with the Georgian rival only in the final. He has eight European Championships and Games titles with the lastest coming in 2021 in Warsaw, Poland. Akgul, born in Sivas, completed his master's degree at Sivas Cumhuriyet University. He took up wrestling following his father and brother.