Wrestler, world champion (B.1913, the village
of Karlı / Kavak / Samsun
– D.1961, Ankara).
When his father died in the First World War, he settled in Emirli, his mother’s
village. He started wrestling in this village at a very young age. He was only
fifteen years old when he was ranked among the most famous wrestlers of the
region. Before serving his military duty, he was involved in “karakucak”
wrestling. When he was doing his military service in
Ankara in 1936, he became a member of the Wrestling Society and began mat
wrestling. When his military service was over, he stayed in Ankara and competed
for his club.
After Onni Helinen, the Finnish trainer of the national
team at the time, noticed the power of Doğu’s wrestling style and strength, he
helped Doğu to join the national team in 1939. Doğu attended the 66 kg competitions of the
European Championships in Oslo the same year, he wrestled there four times, was
defeated once; thus came in second. His only defeat in the freestyle matches
was when the Estonian wrestler Toots scored more points. Oslo Tournament was
the only freestyle tournament in which Yaşar Doğu could not become the
champion.
In
the Balkan Championship held in Çemberlitaş-Istanbul in 1940, he won three
times with three touché, and was crowned the champion at 66 kg. With the Second World War, it was only in 1946 when Doğu
entered two national competitions in Cairo and Alexandria, and won with two
touché. The same year, he competed in six 73 kg-matches which are organized in
Stockholm for the European Championship, and for the first time he became the
European Champion, winning all the matches. A year later, he again defeated all
his opponents in the European Greco-Roman Championship, held in Prague, and became the
champion at 73 kg.
He joined the London Olympics in 1948, and beating his five opponents, became
the Olympic Champion. He went on a European tour with the Turkish National Team
in 1949. In this tour which included Italy,
Switzerland, Sweden and Finland, he competed in seven 79 kg-matches, winning
them all. The European Wrestling Championship was organized in Istanbul in the same year. Competing in 79
kg-matches, Doğu defeated his first three opponents with touché, he defeated
the famous Swedish wrestler Groemberg with a higher total score, and became the champion. He went on a tour of Asia, this time, in 1950. In the wrestling
competitions he entered in Baghdad, Basra, and Lahore, he defeated his
opponents with touché and he became famous in the East. During his sport life, Yaşar Doğu
took the opportunity to enter the World Championship once. Although it was
difficult for him to wrestle as he weighed 87 kilos and was a short person, he
defeated his Finlander, Iranian, German and Swedish opponents and won the World
Championship for the first but last time. In 1951, the national team of
wrestlers returned to the homeland with the title of champion. This team
included Yaşar Doğu,
Nurettin Zafer,
Haydar Zafer,
Nasuh Akar,
Celal Atik, Ali Yücel,
İbrahim Zengin and Adil
Candemir. After the London
Olympics, he was awarded a house by the Olympic Committee and was declared a
professional wrestler; he did not participate in the Helsinki Olympics in 1952.
After Yaşar Doğu quit wrestling, he became the trainer of
the national team. During his stay in Sweden, when he was with the team,
he had a serious heart attack on 15 December 1955. Although the doctors strictly
recommended him to rest, he returned to Turkey and continued training young
wrestlers. He had another heart attack in Ankara
on 8 January 1961,
and passed away.
A
legend in Turkish wrestling, carrying the star and the crescent of his country
upon his suit, Yaşar Doğu competed in 47 matches and was only beaten once. He
defeated 33 of his 46 opponents with touch-falls. The
46 matches, whom he won, should have lasted 690 minutes, but thanks to his
victories in a short time, these wrestling matches lasted 372 minutes 26
seconds.