Rıza Yıldırım, a prominent Turkish athlete, was crowned champion on Wednesday in the men's freestyle 97kg category in the European Wrestling Championship organized in Serbia's Novi Sad after beating Russian competitor Anzor Boltukaev.

On the second day of the championship, the Turkish wrestler had a decisive victory of 4-2 over title-holder Anzor Boltukaev of Russia and won the gold medal.

The European champion had beaten Georgia's Elizbar Odikadze 8-2 in the semi finals.

With Wednesday's victory, Yıldırım became the first Turkish athlete to win a gold medal in the championships.

"This was my 20-year dream and it has come true today," he said following the medal distribution ceremony.

On Tuesday, two other Turkish wrestlers, Selim Yaşar and Süleyman Atlı, won bronze medals in the largest wrestling tournament in Europe.