Taha Akgül

Taha Akgül

Akgül at the 2016 Olympics
Personal information
Nationality	Turkish
Born	(1990-11-22) November 22, 1990 (age 30) Sivas, Turkey
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	125 kg (276 lb; 19.7 st)
Sport
Sport	Wrestling
Event(s)	Freestyle
Club	Aski Spor Kulübü, Ankara
Turned pro	2010
Coached by	Abdullah Çakmak
hide Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 1 0 1 World Championship 2 2 1 European Championships 8 0 0 European Games 1 0 0 Military World Games 1 0 0 Mediterranean Games 1 0 0 6 0 1 Other 3 2 0 Total 23 4 3 Men's freestyle wrestling Representing  Turkey Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro 125 kg 2020 Tokyo 125 kg World Championships 2019 Nur-Sultan 125 kg 2017 Paris 125 kg 2015 Las Vegas 125 kg 2014 Tashkent 125 kg 2013 Budapest 120kg European Championships 2021 Warsaw 125 kg 2019 Bucharest 125 kg 2018 Kaspiysk 125 kg 2017 Novi Sad 125 kg 2014 Vantaa 125kg 2013 Tbilisi 120kg 2012 Belgrade 120kg European Games 2015 Baku 125kg Military World Games 2019 Wuhan 125 kg Mediterranean Games 2013 Mersin 120 kg Yasar Dogu Tournament 2019 Istanbul 2016 Istanbul 2015 Istanbul 2014 Istanbul 2013 Ankara 2012 Ankara 2011 Istanbul Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin 2019 Krasnoyarsk Cerro Pelado International Universiade 2013 Kazan 120kg World University Championship 120 kg World Junior Championships 2010 Budapest 120 kg

Taha Akgül (born November 22, 1990 in Sivas, Turkey) is an Olympic, World and European champion Turkish freestyle wrestler competing in the 125 kg division.^[1][2] He is a graduate of the Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University Physical Education and Sports Academy and completed his master's degree at Sivas Cumhuriyet University.^[3][4]

Wrestling career[]

Akgül took up wrestling in 2003 following his father and brother. He won the gold medal at the 40th Yaşar Doğu International Wrestling Tournament held in 2012.^[5] At the 2012 European Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia, Taha Akgül became champion in his weight category.^[6] He is now considered the best active wrestler with Abdulrashid Sadulaev.

He qualified for the 2012 Olympics.^[7] He did not advance to quarterfinal after losing to Bilyal Makhov from Russia in the round of 16. At the 2012 World University Wrestling Championships held in Kuortane, Finland, he became gold medallist in his weight class.^[8]

Taha Akgül defended his European champion title at the 2013 European Wrestling Championships held in Tbilisi, Georgia.^[9] He won the bronze medal at the 2013 World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary.^[10]

In 2014 and 2015 he won the world title in the 125 kg division.^[11][12] In 2014 he named as the Best Wrestler of the Year by the Turkish Wrestling Federation. He won a gold medal at the 2016 Olympics, defeating Komeil Ghasemi in the final.

Taha Akgul won the gold medal at the 2017 European Wrestling Championships in Serbia on Friday.^[13]

World Championships 2017, Paris: It was a dramatic gold medal match. Akgul scored the first point on the counter in less than one minute into the game. The Turkish international continued to dominate the first period by taking a four-point lead. But the Georgian wrestler turned the tables in his favour in the dying seconds of the first half. Within one minute he covered the four-point lead by two successive takedowns, levelling the score at 4-4. In the second half, both the wrestlers went into attacking mode. With a series of attacks, the wrestlers were drawn at 8-8. But in the final 10 seconds of the bout, Petriashvili executed a two-pointer move and became the world champion.^[14]

Taha Akgul won gold medals on Sunday at the European Wrestling Championships held in Kaspiysk in Russia’s northern Caucasus Republic of Dagestan. He won against Georgian wrestler Geno Petriashvili 2-1 to become the European champion in the 125-kilogram category.^[15]

Taha Akgul comes second in World Wrestling C'ships. Akgul wins silver medal in World Wrestling Championships, losing to Georgia's Petriashvili in men's freestyle final.^[16]

Taha Akgül on April 22 won gold in the 2021 European Championships in Warsaw.Akgül secured his eighth European title as the 30-year-old beat his Russian opponent Sergei Kozyrev via disqualification (9-2) in the men's freestyle 125-kilogram final. He had previously won gold in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics Games.Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) about his latest success, Akgül said winning the tournament after being forced to a nearly two-year hiatus due to injury was a great morale boost for him. “I won my 8th European title after defeating my rivals with overwhelming superiority. It was really important for me to win a gold medal, considering I joined straight to European Championships after my 1.5-year break. And the Olympics is so close,” Akgül said, adding that he would be aiming for a second Olympic gold medal at Tokyo 2020.^[17]

Wrestling record[]

Res.	Record	Opponent	Score	Date	Event	Location	Video
2020 Olympic Games at 125 kg
Win	122–6	Mönkhtöriin Lkhagvagerel	5–0	August 06, 2021	2020 Olympic Games	Tokyo
Win	121–6	Aiaal Lazarev	4–0
Loss	120–6	Gable Steveson	0–8
Win	120–5	Amar Dhesi	5–0
2021 European Championships at 125 kg
Win	119–5	Sergei Kozyrev	9-2	April 21, 2021	2021 European Championship	Warsaw	[1]
Win	118–5	Dzianis Khramiankou	4-0				[2]
Win	117–5		6–1				[3]
Win	116–5	Geno Petriashvili	6–1				[4]
at 125 kg
Win	115–5		10–0 Tech Fall	December 22, 2019		Ankara
Win	114–5	Hüseyin Civelek	10–0 Tech Fall
Win	113–5	Mustafa Tayyip Küçük	10–0 Tech Fall
Win	112–5	Enes Kaan	12–2 Tech Fall
Win	111–5	Adil Misirci	10–0 Tech Fall
at 125 kg
Win	110–5	Robin Ferdinand	19–4 Tech Fall	November 16, 2019		Hockenheim	[5]
Win	109–5	Nico Graf	16–0 Tech Fall	RKG Reilingen-Hockenheim
Win	108–5	Alexander Kleer	16–0 Tech Fall
at 125 kg
Win	107–5	Yadollah Mohebbi	3–0	October 22, 2019		Wuhan
Win	106–5	Robert Baran	8–1	October 21, 2019
Win	105–5	Aleksandr Goldovski	4–0
Win	104–5	Sohbet Belliyev	5–0
2019 World Championship at 125 kg
Loss	103–5	Geno Petriashvili	6–6	September 21, 2019	2019 World Championship	Nur-Sultan	[6]
Win	103-4	Deng Zhiwei	10–0 Tech Fall				[7]
Win	102–4	Khasanboy Rakhimov	3–0				[8]
Win	101–4	Alexander Romanov	8–0				[9]
at 125 kg
Win	100–4	Nick Gwiazdowski	5–1	July 14, 2019		Istanbul	[10]
Win	99–4	Yadollah Mohebbi	10–0 Tech Fall	July 13, 2019			[11]
Win	98–4	Daniel Ligeti	5–2				[12]
2019 European Championship at 125 kg
Win	97–4	Geno Petriashvili	7–0	April 10, 2019		Bucharest	[13]
Win	96–4	Anzor Khizriev	8–1	April 9, 2019			[14]
Win	95–4		11–0 Tech Fall				[15]
Win	94–4	Rareș Chintoan	7–1				[16]
2018 World Championship at 125 kg
Loss	93–4	Parviz Hadi	2–3	October 20, 2018	2018 World Championship	Budapest	[17]
Win	93–3	Oleksandr Khotsianivskyi	7–0				[18]
Win	92–3	Nick Matuhin	9–0				[19]
2018 European Championship at 125 kg
Win	91–3	Geno Petriashvili	2–1	May 6, 2018	2018 European Championship	Kaspiysk	[20]
Win	90–3		3–0				[21]
Win	89–3	Jamaladdin Magomedov	4–2				[22]
Win	88–3	Ibrahim Saidau	5–0				[23]
at 125 kg
Win	87–3		11–0 Tech Fall	October 22, 2019		Havana	[24]
Win	86–3	Davit Modzmanashvili	8–1	October 21, 2019
Win	85–3	Alen Zasyeyev	7–0
Win	84–3		11–0 Tech Fall
2017 World Championship at 125 kg
Loss	83–3	Geno Petriashvili	8–10	August 25, 2017	2017 World Championship	Paris	[25]
Win	83–2	Nick Gwiazdowski	10–0 Tech Fall				[26]
Win	82–2	Nam Koung-jin	12–2 Tech Fall				[27]
Win	81–2	Natsagsürengiin Zolboo	8–0				[28]
2017 European Championship at 125 kg
Win	80–2	Jamaladdin Magomedov	8–2	May 5, 2017	2017 European Championship	Novi Sad	[29]
Win	79–2	Dániel Ligeti	5–0				[30]
Win	78–2	Geno Petriashvili	14–4 Tech Fall				[31]
Win	77–2		9–2				[32]
2016 Olympic Games at 125 kg
Win	76–2	Komeil Ghasemi	3–1	August 20, 2016	2016 Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro	[33]
Win	75–2	Levan Berianidze	8–1				[34]
Win	74–2	Ibrahim Saidau	11–0 Tech Fall				[35]
Win	73–2	Jargalsaikhany Chuluunbat	10–0 Tech Fall				[36]
at 125 kg
Win	72–2		10–0 Tech Fall	February 7, 2016		Istanbul	[37]
Win	71–2	Jamaladdin Magomedov	12–1	February 6, 2016
Win	70–2	Yasin Kılıç	9–1
2015 World Championship at 125 kg
Win	69–2	Jamaladdin Magomedov	10–0 Tech Fall	September 12, 2015	2015 World Championship	Las Vegas, NV	[38]
Win	68–2	Bilyal Makhov	10–0 Tech Fall				[39]
Win	67–2	Daulet Shabanbay	6–1				[40]
Win	66–2	Levan Berianidze	4–2				[41]
Win	65–2	José Cuba	Tech Fall (11–0)				[42]
2015 European Games at 125 kg
Win	64–2	Aleksey Shemarov	6–0	June 18, 2015	2015 European Games	Baku	[43]
Win	63–2	Soslan Gagloev	Fall
Win	62–2	Robert Baran	Fall
Win	61–2	Jamaladdin Magomedov	5–2
at 125 kg
Win	60–2	Aiaal Lazarev	(Tech Fall)10–0	March 29, 2015		Istanbul
Win	59–2	Daulet Shabanu	(Tech Fall)12–1	March 28, 2015
Win	58–2	Khadzhimurat Gatsalov	(Tech Fall) 10–0
2014 World Championship at 125 kg
Win	57–2	Komeil Ghasemi	4–3	September 8, 2014	2014 World Championship	Tashkent	[44]
Win	56–2	Aleksey Shemarov	8–1				[45]
Win	55–2	Tervel Dlagnev	4–2				[46]
Win	54–2		4–0				[47]
Win	53–2		10–4				[48]
2014 European Championship at 125 kg
Win	52–2	Alan Khugaev	Tech Fall 10–0	April 3, 2014	2014 European Championship	Vantaa	[49]
Win	51–2	Oleksandr Khotsianivskyi	Tech Fall 10–0
Win	50–2	Vadzim Shvedau	Tech Fall 10–0
Win	49–2	Andranik Galstyan	Tech Fall 11–0
at 125 kg
Win	48–2	Komeil Ghasemi	4–1	February 16, 2014		Istanbul
Win	47–2	Dom Bradley	6–1	February 16, 2014
Win	46–2	Hamza Ozkaradeniz	2–0
at 125 kg
Win	45–2	Geno Petriashvili	10–1	November 8, 2013		Moscow
Win	44–2		10–0	November 12, 2013
Win	43–2	Alen Zasyeyev	4–1
Win	42–2		10–0
2013 World Championship at 125 kg
Win	41–2	Tervel Dlagnev	3–0	September 17, 2013	2013 World Championship	Budapest
Win	40–2	Jamaladdin Magomedov	7–3
Win	39–2	Florian Skilang Temengil	(Tech Fall) 8–0
Loss	38–2	Alen Zasyeyev	2–6
Win	38–1	Christos Nyfadopoulos	(Tech Fall) 9–0
at 120 kg
Win	37–1	Oleksandr Khotsianivskyi	(Tech Fall) 8–0	July 16, 2013		Kazan
Win	36–1	Parviz Hadi	6–1
Win	35–1	Deng Zhiwei	7–0
Win	34–1	Ibrahim Saidau	4–1
at 120 kg
Win	33–1		(Tech Fall)10–0	June 26, 2013		Mersin
Win	32–1		(Tech Fall)10–0
Win	31–1		(Tech Fall)10–0
Win	30–1	Pedrag Dubaic	(Tech Fall)10–0
2013 European Championship at 120 kg
Win	29–1	Alen Zasieiev	0–6, 1–0, 2–1	March 21, 2013	2013 European Championship	Tbilisi
Win	28–1	Daniel Ligeti	5–1, 5–3
Win	27–1	Dimitar Angelov Kumchev	2–2, 3–0, 3–1
Win	26–1	Jamaladdin Magomedov	2–0, 2–0
at 120 kg
Win	25–1	Tervel Dlagnev	6–2	February 21, 2013		Tehran
Win	24–1	Komeil Ghasemi	5–1
Win	23–1		8–0
Win	22–1	Alan Khugaev	6–3
Win	21–1	Taichi Oka	Tech Fall (11–0)
at 120 kg
Win	20–1	Kurban Kurbanov	9–2	February 9, 2013		Ankara
Win	19–1	Jamaladdin Magomedov	6–1
Win	18–1	Geno Petriashvili	6–3
at 120 kg
Win	17–1	Parviz Hadi	Tech Fall (10–0)	October 2, 2012		Kuortane
Win	16–1		10–2
Win	15–1	Anthony Nelson	Tech-Fall (9–0)
Win	14–1		7–0
2012 Olympics Games 9th at 120 kg
Loss	13–1	Bilyal Makhov	1–0, 3–0	August 11, 2012	2012 Olympics Games	London
Win	13–0	Oleksandr Khotsianivskyi	1–0, 2–0
at 120 kg
Win	12–0	Oleksandr Khotsianivskyi	5–2	Juny[clarification needed] 13, 2012		Ankara
Win	11–0	Rareş Chintoan	7–0	Juny[clarification needed] 13, 2012
Win	10–0	Fardin Masoumi	(Tech Fall) 10–0
2012 European Championship at 120 kg
Win	9–0	Daniel Ligeti	(Tech Fall) 9–1	March 2, 2012	2012 European Championship	Belgrade
Win	8–0	Ihar Dziatko	5–0
Win	7–0	Nick Matuhin	4–0
Win	6–0	Giagias Stamatios	(Tech Fall) 9–0
at 125 kg
Win	5–0	Fatih Çakıroğlu	5–4	July 8, 2011		Baku
Win	4–0	Davit Modzmanashvili	8–3
Win	3–0	Jamaladdin Magomedov	7–3
Win	2–0		8–2
Win	1–0	José Cuba	Tech Fall (11–0)

See also[]

• Rıza Kayaalp

References[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Taha Akgül.

External links[]

• Taha Akgül at Olympic.org (archived)
• Taha Akgül at OlympicChannel.com (archived)
• Taha Akgül at Olympics.com
• Taha Akgül at Olympedia
• Taha Akgül at United World Wrestling
• Taha Akgül at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)