Gazanfer Bilge

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Medal record
Men's Freestyle Wrestling
Olympics
Gold	1948 London, England	Featherweight
European Championships
Gold	1946 Stockholm, Sweden	Featherweight

Gazanfer Bilge (1923, Karamürsel, Kocaeli, Turkey), is a former Turkish sports wrestler, who won the gold medal in the Featherweight class of Men's Freestyle Wrestling at the 1948 Olympics.

He began wrestling in his age of 17, and was admitted to the national team during his military service. After winning the European champion title, he became the first Olympic gold medalist for Turkey in freestyle wresting in London, England.

Gazanfer Bilge retired in 1953 from active sports after his exclusion from participition at the Helsini Olympics in 1952. The International Fair Play Committee (CIFP) in Paris, France honored him with the "2002 Public relations - Service to Sports and Community Trophy".^[1]

Gazanfer Bilge owns a large overland coach business. He donated to the town, where he was born and grown up, a primary school for hearing impaired students, a vocational school for physical education and sports at Kocaeli University, an orphanage and a building for homeless people. He also supported many young wrestlers and students with scholarships. A sports hall located in Büyükçekmece, Istanbul, opened in August 2006, is named after him as well.^[2]

He is married and has a son Muzaffer Bilge.