TGF President Taha Akgül: "We will be even better"

The Senior World Wrestling Championships are underway in Zagreb, Croatia. Turkey is also competing with 10 athletes in three different categories. Turkish Wrestling Federation President Taha Akgül spoke to the press about this important tournament.

Taha Akgül, who began his speech by stating that it would be a challenging championship, said, "Before coming here, we said a tough championship awaited us. We mentioned that we were participating with a young team and that there was a generational change. The wrestling community is well aware of this. Five of our athletes in the freestyle category competed for the first time in the senior category, so they were inexperienced. But they competed very well here. I told our athletes that even if they lost, they should do so with a fighting spirit and that their competitions should be promising for the future."

"ALL THESE TOURNAMENTS ARE A STAGE"

"I see we have promising athletes on our team. It gives us morale. In addition to them, we have an Olympic reserve team. We will not let our athletes on this roster leave our camps abroad. The more tournaments we participate in, the better for us in terms of gaining experience. Each of these tournaments is a stepping stone. We've gone through these stages before, too. With the experience we gain, we will become even better. Unfortunately, we didn't win a medal in freestyle wrestling. I hope we can win medals in the women's and Greco-Roman categories. We are in the development phase of our children. I hope they will get even better over time. However, our entire community knows that this process will be a bit challenging," he said.

"IT IS NOT EASY TO TRAIN AND RISE"

President Akgül emphasized that they are in a transition period due to the generation gap, saying, "I started sports at 12 and became an Olympic champion at 26. It's been 14 years since I achieved success. Training an athlete and taking them to the top is no easy task. The results of the events we participate in in the short term are certain. I mentioned this before the election. I recently explained this situation to our President. I explained to him that we might not be able to achieve success in the short term and that we have traveled every inch of Anatolia. They were understanding and assured us that they would support us with facilities and sponsorships. I thank them for their listening and understanding."

"WE WILL PAY IMPORTANCE TO HEAVYWEIGHT"

President Taha Akgül stated that short-term success lies in the heavyweight division, saying, "The shortest path to a medal is through the heavyweight division. Therefore, we must place great importance on the heavyweight division. We have many wrestlers in oil wrestling in our country. There's significant potential there. If this potential is realized on the mat, it's simply not possible for us not to become world champions. Therefore, we will place particular emphasis on the heavyweight division. We have made plans for this with our coaches."