Turkish sports commentator enters Guinness World Records

ISTANBUL

Orhan Ayhan has made his mark in the Guinness Book of Records as the male sports commentator with the longest career in the world.

Ayhan, a prominent sports figure of Turkish state-run broadcaster TRT, began his career as a sports reporter and sportswriter in print media in 1957 and has been in the sports field for 61 years and 265 days at present.

Ayhan was the top candidate in TRT Istanbul Radio's sports announcer exam in 1962. In the following year, he announced his first game, the European Champion Clubs encounter between Galatasaray and Milan.

Following the event, he proceeded with announcing the bout between Wene Brune and Garbis Zakaryan, subsequently coming to a point where he announced every bout between Mike Tyson and the late legendary boxer Muhammad Ali.

Ayhan, who holds positions as a board member of the Turkish Journalists Association and a founding member of the Sports Writers Association, also took on the role of board member at the Boxing Federation.

He is the sole Turkish journalist who attended the world-famous football player Pele's jubilee, providing a significant interview, and has narrated over 8500 football and boxing matches to date.

Drawing attention with his distinctive style of narration, expression and commentary across various sports events, Ayhan has written and published two books, one of which is titled "Bout."