Hüseyin Özkan

Hüseyin Özkan (born January 20, 1972 in Argun , Chechnya , Soviet Union as Chazei Bisultanov ) is a former Turkish judoka who grew up in the Soviet Union and competed for Turkey from mid-1993. Özkan fought until 1995 in the super light weight (up to 60 kg) and from 1996 in the half light weight (up to 66 kg).

The 1.65 m tall judoka won the 1991 European Junior Championships for the Soviet Union. In 1992 he became the Russian national champion. At the European Championships in 1993 he was defeated in the final against Nazim Hüseynov from Azerbaijan. Özkan made his debut in the Turkish team at the European Team Championships in Frankfurt in 1993, with the Turkish team taking third place. In 1994 and 1996 he won the World Cup tournament in Sofia, but it wasn't until 1997 that he won his first individual medal for Turkey when he won the title at the European Championships in Ostend. In 1999 he won the bronze medal at the European Championships in Bratislava. At the 1999 World Championships in Birmingham, he received the silver medal behind the French Larbi Benboudaoud . Özkan and Benboudaoud faced each other in the final of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney , Özkan won prematurely through Ippon and thus became the only Turkish judo Olympic champion to date. (As of 2018)

After a year off competition, Özkan returned to the mat in 2002, and in 2003 he won the bronze medal at the European Championships . In 2004 he won the Balkan Championships and in 2005 he won the Turkish championship. After the 2005 season he ended his sporting career on the mat, as head coach of the Turkish judoka he returned to the tournaments on the edge of the mat.

Web links

• Hüseyin Özkan in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Hüseyin Özkan on judoinside.com