Biography

A Turkish legend, Riza KAYAALP (TUR) is on his way to his fourth Olympic Games. He first began in 2008 Beijing where he failed to win a medal. But in London 2012, he won a bronze medal. Four years later in 2016, he won a silver medal. He was the flag bearer for Turkey at the Rio Games. Kayaalp is the most decorated Turkish Greco-Roman wrestler in history thanks to his four world and 10 European titles (one at Euro Games). His first World title came in 2011 when he beat Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) in the final. The two later met in the 2012 Olympic semifinal which Lopez won. In 2013 and 2014, Kayaalp won silver medals at the Worlds. He lost to Lopez in the 2014 World finals. But in 2015, he once again defeated Lopez in the world finals. But he could not repeat the feat in the Rio Olympic final which Lopez won. Since winning his first Olympic gold in Beijing, Lopez has suffered only two losses, both coming against Kayaalp. The Turk defended his world title in 2017 but suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to former world champion and rival Heiki NABI (EST) in 2018, missing out on a medal for the first time at world, dating back to 2009. He returned to claim the title in 2019 in Nursultan and qualified for the Olympics. In the final, he defeated Oscar PINO (CUB) to claim his fourth title which made him the first Turkish Greco-Roman wrestler to do so. He surpassed Hamza YERLIKAYA and Selcuk CEBI as both had three titles each. He will be seeded as the number one for the Tokyo Games.