Akgül, Taha (b. November 22, 1990, Sivas), Olympic and world champion national wrestler. Received the Mustafa V. Koç Sports Award, together with national archer Gizem Girişmen in 2017, the year of the award’s introduction.
Akgül, who began wrestling in 2003, is a graduate of the Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University Physical Education and Sports Academy and completed his master’s degree at Sivas Cumhuriyet University.
He won a gold medal in the freestyle 120 kg category at the European Wrestling Championships in 2012 and 2013. In 2014 and 2015, he won gold medals in the European Wrestling Championships and World Wrestling Championships freestyle 125 kg category. He was an Olympic winner in 2016 in the same category. In 2017, he was the European Champion and came second in the World Championships. He became the European Champion again in 2018 and 2019.
He was received the Sedat Simavi Sports Award in 2016, followed in 2017 by the Mustafa V. Koç Sports Award, which he received together with Paralympic Games and world champion national archer Gizem Girişmen. They were nominated for “their embodiment of all the Olympic values and worldwide sporting success, achieved through the determination, discipline and commitment shown in their work.”