World champion wrestler Kayaalp visits Anadolu Agency

By Omer Hakan Kibar

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish athlete Riza Kayaalp, who recently claimed gold medal in the World Wrestling Championships in Kazakhstan, visited the Anadolu Agency headquarters -- Turkey’s premier news agency -- in the capital Ankara on Thursday .

The four times world and eight times European champion Kayaalp was received by the agency's Director General Senol Kazanci.

"You made us proud. We both thank you and your coaches," remarked Kazanci, while appreciating skills of the internationally acclaimed athlete.

Kayaalp bagged the gold medal in men's Greco-Roman 130 kg final in the World Wrestling Championships against his Cuban opponent Oscar Pino Hinds in Tuesday's final in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

Kazanci recalled that the agency's reporters have covered Kayaalp’s achievements.

"We are very excited here. This year, we (Turkey) had titles in both world and European championships so far. We are hopeful at Olympic Games as well," he said.

Kazanci described Kayaalp as a" role model". "We are proud of your success. Riza became world champions four times, who is also a role model," he added.

World champion Turkish wrestler Kayaalp while narrating his recent battle for the title said he felt as if the time was stretching.

"Six minutes is a long time for the wrestler. When I looked at the time, still 1 minute and 39 seconds were left. Seconds were not passing. Then I looked again, I saw that only 59 seconds were left. I thought they will pass quickly. But they still appeared like a mountain,” Kayaalp said, while describing his experience during the game.

Kayaalp also interacted with students from the News Academy of Anadolu Agency.

He answered their questions and shared his experiences with them.

Kayaalp became the first Turkish wrestler to win four world championships in men's Greco-Roman category.

He previously won the world title in Istanbul (2011), Las Vegas (2015) and Paris (2017) who was also a silver medalist in 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

*Writing by Muhammed Enes Calli