Obituary

Olympian and longtime referee Eberhard Probst passes away

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (February 22) -- Two-time world bronze medalist and Olympian Eberhard PROBST from Germany passed away at the age of 69 years.

Probst was born on June 4, 1955, in Querfurt, where he grew up and began wrestling in 1966 at his club the BSG Merseburg. He attended the Children's and Youth Sports School in Halle an der Saale. From 1970 to 1985, Probst collected 17 East German championship titles for the Chemie Halle Sports Club, making him one of the most successful national freestyle wrestling champions all over Germany. 

At the international level, Probst won World Championships bronze medals in 1979 and 1982 while finishing fifth at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. He also placed eighth at the 1976 Montreal Games. He also won bronze medals at the European Championships in 1976, 1979 and 1981.

After his active career, Probst began a career as a referee in 1984 and, due to his reserved, factual-calm, and expert manner, also internationally developed into one of the best referees in the world from 1986 onwards.

Probst was nominated for his first Olympic Games as a referee in 2004, the third overall, in Athens. As the only German mat official, he represented Germany at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. At the World Championships in Herning, Denmark, in 2009, he received the Golden Whistle, the highest award for referees by UWW.

Obituary

Turkish Wrestling Great Kazim Ayvaz Passes Away

By United World Wrestling Press

Turkish Greco-Roman wrestling great Kazim AYVAZ, an Olympic champion and multiple-time world champion, passed away last Sunday at the age of 83. 

Ayvaz competed in three consecutive Olympics from 1960 to 1968. In 1964, Ayvaz captured a gold medal in Greco-Roman at the Tokyo Olympics in the lightweight category. In addition, he won world titles in 1958 and 1962. 

Ayvaz was born in Rize, Turkey, in 1937. His wrestling career started in 1953 at the age of 15. After his competitive wrestling career, Ayvaz spent time training Turkish wrestlers before moving to Sweden.