Salih Bora

Salih Bora — Biography

Salih Bora competed at 48 kg in the 1970s and 1980s and is remembered as one of the most successful Turkish Greco-Roman wrestlers of his era, later becoming a coach. He won three silver medals at the world championships, took part in two Olympics and finished fourth in Los Angeles. After leaving the mat he worked with the Turkish and Azerbaijani national teams; he was head coach of the Greco-Roman national team in 2015 and its technical director in 2021.

He began wrestling in 1970 at Altınay Club, took his first international gold at the 1972 Balkan Championships in Ankara, and moved to İstanbul Demirspor in 1975. At the Mediterranean Games he won gold in 1975 and 1979 and bronze in 1983, and he took bronze at the 1981 European Championships. At the world championships he took silver in Göteborg in 1977, Oslo in 1981 and Katowice in 1982. At the 1976 Montreal Olympics he opened by beating the American Mike Farina 19-4 and finished seventh. Eight years later in Los Angeles he lost the bronze medal match to Japan's Ikuzo Saito 7-5 and finished fourth.

He graduated from the Anadoluhisarı Sports Academy in 1979 and also studied at Marmara University. He received the Sedat Simavi Sports Award in 1979 and 1981 and was named Turkey's Sportsman of the Year by Milliyet in 1982. As a coach he also helped promote wrestling, and in 2021 he met students at Bartın University.