National athlete Rıza Kayaalp wants to go down in history as Türkiye's most decorated wrestler as he eyes a record fifth title at the upcoming World Championship in Serbia.
He already has the most European championships in Türkiye, with 11 continental titles in his career and is drawn level with another Turkish freestyle wrestling great Hüseyin Akbaş with four world titles each.
Kayaalp matched Akbaş's achievement at the 2019 World Championship in the Kazakh capital Nur Sultan, becoming the first Turkish athlete to win the Greco-Roman world title four times.
Now the 32-year-old will look to overtake that record at the World Wrestling Championship to be held on Sept. 10-18 in the Serbian capital, Belgrade.
"We have been preparing for a long time. At the beginning of April, there was the European Championship, I won the 11th European title there. After that, the preparation process for the World Championship began. The last time I wrestled was in the ranking tournament in Rome on June 22. I came first with some good performance, I showed that I am ready for the World Championship." Kayaalp told Anadolu Agency (AA).
The national wrestler added that he is planning to join one more training camp before leaving for the World Championship preparations.
"For the last camp, we will be in Bolu Aladağ on Aug. 21. As I always say, I want to bring success to my country. My goal is to become the world champion for the fifth time. I have a total of eight medals at the worlds, I want to make that nine with another gold."
"I've been feeling stronger lately. I gained some missing weight and will wrestle in the 130-kilogram category, not in the 122-123 kilogram event. I think I gained this as muscle. Now I want the opponents to deal with me. My goal is to complete the missing weight and turn it into an advantage," he said.
About his aim to break the Turkish record, Kayaalp said: "That would be nice, too. After all, breaking records is a good thing. This shows that we are good wrestlers and set a good example for young people. We have raised the bar and set a new target for our young people who want to reach that target."
The record-breaking wrestler from the central Anatolian city of Yozgat said he has been working on his techniques to perform better at the upcoming event.
"I have worked on new techniques to lift and throw 130 kilograms ... To do it in a game at a competition, it is necessary to repeat it thousands of times in training."
Kayaalp, who became an 11-time European champion in Budapest this April, will also have the opportunity to match and even surpass Russian wrestler Aleksandr Karelin's record 12 continental titles.
The Turkish athlete remains firmly focused on that target, while also setting his sights on the Paris 2024 Olympics.
"It will be incredibly proud for me if I can catch up with Karelin in the European championship and pass him. It is my biggest dream to be able to say that any record can be beaten."
"That's why I will grit my teeth the next two years. I will be very careful, just to be able to break that European record and show that there is no record that cannot be broken."
He also praised the present competitive environment in Tükiye's wrestling scene and hoped that it will bring even more success to the country.
"We have five-six good upcoming heavyweights. This competitive environment will bring success."
Finally, sending out a message of unity and solidarity to the country's wrestling community Kayaalp said: "This sport and the country are ours. Successes are the success of all of us. After all, my success means the success of the country."
"I want our community to be in unity and solidarity. After all, years, people are temporary, we are temporary ... The aim should be to serve the country."
