Oiled Wrestlers Begin the Kırkpınar Tournament

Every summer near the northwestern Turkish city of Edirne, athletes gather for the annual Kırkpınar oil-wrestling tournament, widely recognized as one of the oldest continually staged athletic competitions. Competing pehlivans wear knee-length leather shorts known as kıspets and douse themselves thoroughly in olive oil before stepping onto the grass. The slippery coating makes securing a conventional grip nearly impossible, transforming each contest into an exhausting test of balance, endurance, and technique. The festival spans three days, culminating in intense final matches that award the title of chief wrestler, or başpehlivan.

The traditional origin story of the contest traces back to the fourteenth century, during the early expansion of the Ottoman state across Rumelia. According to the best-known legend, forty Ottoman warriors campaigning in Rumelia under the commander Süleyman Pasha paused to rest and began wrestling one another. Two brothers proved so evenly matched that their bout continued unbroken into the night, ending only when both collapsed dead from sheer exhaustion. After their comrades buried the pair, the story goes, water was found flowing from the grave, and the place became known as Kırkpınar, meaning forty springs, where wrestling was held each year in the brothers' memory.