Türkiye's Rıza Kayaalp made history Tuesday by winning a record fifth world title to become the country's most decorated wrestler of all time.
The 32-year-old won his latest gold medal at the ongoing World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, by beating Iran's Amin Mirzazadeh in the men's Greco-Roman 130-kilogram final.
The fifth world title helped Kayaalp overtake Türkiye's freestyle wrestling great Hüseyin Akbaş, who had four titles to his name.
"I am very happy and joyful. I have always considered it my duty to represent our country in the best way possible. It is my greatest desire to raise our flag. I am working toward that goal. Thank God, I have succeeded again," Kayaalp said after his victory.
Kayaalp won his first world title in the men's Greco-Roman 120-kilogram event in Istanbul in 2011, before picking up three more golds in 130-kilogram events at 2015 Las Vegas, 2017 Paris and 2019 Nur-Sultan.
He has also won 11 European championships in his career, the most in Türkiye, and has the opportunity to match or even surpass Russian wrestler Aleksandr Karelin's record 12 continental titles.
However, an Olympic gold medal continues to elude the record-breaking wrestler from the central Anatolian city of Yozgat.
He came very close to winning one at the Rio 2016 Games but had to settle for a silver. He has won two Olympics bronze medals, one at the London 2012 Olympics and the second at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
With the world title out of the way, Kayaalp will now be firmly focused on the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics.
"I have one-and-half years left. I want to make the best use of it and bring new achievements to my country. My next target is the European championship and the Olympics. God willing, it will happen," he said.
With Kayaalp's gold at the 2022 World Championships, Türkiye also became the team champion in the seniors' Greco-Roman category with 125 points, as it only failed to achieve points in the 63-kilogram event.
Earlier Monday, Burhan Akbudak also clinched his first world title in the men's Greco-Roman 82-kilogram by beating Uzbekistan’s Jalgasbay Berdimuratov 3-1(7-6).
