Kayaalp made his Olympic debut at the
2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. After receiving a bye in the first round, he lost to Lithuania's
Mindaugas Mizgaitis in the second round and was eliminated from the tournament. In 2009, he won the gold medal in the Greco-Roman 120 kg event at the
2009 Mediterranean Games in
Pescara, defeating Greece's Panagiotis Papadopoulos in the final by fall while leading 7–0. The same year, he became European junior champion in
Tbilisi and won the World Junior Championships in the Greco-Roman 120 kg category in
Ankara. He also won a bronze medal at the
2009 World Wrestling Championships in
Herning, Denmark. In 2010, Kayaalp won the 120 kg title at the 28th International Vehbi Emre Greco-Roman Wrestling Tournament. At the
2011 World Wrestling Championships in
Istanbul, Kayaalp won his first senior world title in the Greco-Roman 120 kg event. He defeated Cuba's
Mijaín López 2–0 in the final, winning both periods 2–0. In 2012, he won the European title in the Greco-Roman 120 kg category at the
2012 European Wrestling Championships in
Belgrade. Later that year, he won the bronze medal at the
2012 Summer Olympics in London in the
men's Greco-Roman 120 kg event. At the
2013 World Wrestling Championships in
Budapest, Kayaalp initially won the bronze medal after defeating Sweden's
Johan Eurén 3–0 in the bronze medal bout. His result was later upgraded to silver after Iranian wrestler
Amir Aliakbari, who had beaten him in the semifinals, was disqualified for a doping violation. Kayaalp was Turkey's flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the
2013 Mediterranean Games in
Mersin. At the Games, he won the gold medal in the Greco-Roman 120 kg event, defeating Tunisia's
Radhouane Chebbi 2–0 in the final. At the
2014 World Wrestling Championships in
Tashkent, Kayaalp reached the Greco-Roman 130 kg final, where he lost 2–0 to
Mijaín López and won the silver medal. In 2015, Kayaalp won the gold medal at the inaugural
European Games in
Baku, defeating Azerbaijan's
Sabah Shariati 3–1 in the Greco-Roman 130 kg final. Later the same year, he won his second senior world title at the
2015 World Wrestling Championships in
Las Vegas. In the Greco-Roman 130 kg final, he defeated
Mijaín López 1–0 to win the gold medal. At the
2016 European Wrestling Championships in
Riga, Kayaalp won the Greco-Roman 130 kg title. In the final, he defeated Ukraine's
Oleksandr Chernetskyi by fall after the score had been tied 2–2. At the
2016 Summer Olympics in
Rio de Janeiro, Kayaalp won the silver medal in the
men's Greco-Roman 130 kg event. As a seeded wrestler, he received a bye in the first round. He then defeated Venezuela's
Erwin Caraballo by technical superiority in the second round, pinned Azerbaijan's
Sabah Shariati in the quarter-finals and beat Germany's
Eduard Popp by technical superiority in the semi-finals. In the final, he lost 6–0 to Cuba's
Mijaín López and finished second. At the
2017 World Wrestling Championships in
Paris, Kayaalp won the gold medal in the Greco-Roman 130 kg event. In the final, he defeated Estonia's
Heiki Nabi 2–1 to win his third senior world title. At the
2018 European Wrestling Championships in
Kaspiysk, Russia, he won the Greco-Roman 130 kg title by defeating Russia's Vitalii Shchur 2–1 in the final. At the
2019 European Wrestling Championships in
Bucharest, Kayaalp defeated Georgia's
Iakobi Kajaia 3–0 in the Greco-Roman 130 kg final. With this result, he won his eighth consecutive European title and his ninth European title overall. At the
2019 World Wrestling Championships in
Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, Kayaalp won the gold medal in the Greco-Roman 130 kg event. He defeated Cuba's
Óscar Pino 3–1 in the final and became the first Turkish wrestler to win four world titles in Greco-Roman wrestling. Kayaalp won another gold by beating his Estonian rival Heiki Nabi 3–1 in the Greco-Roman 130 kilos in China, at the International Military Sports Council (CISM) World Games, an Olympic event where soldiers compete. Kayaalp was chosen as the 2020 Athlete of the Year at the 66th Gillette Milliyet Athlete of the Year awards. Kayaalp clinched his 10th European wrestling title by beating Georgia's Iakobi Kajaia 3–1 in the
Greco-Roman 130 kg final. Kayaalp had to wait until the final match of the day to claim his historic title. In the final, he faced Iakobi Kajaia from Georgia, the same wrestler he had defeated to win the 2019 European title. Kayaalp won the final 3–1 after scoring a takedown and one point for Kajaia's passivity. He gave up a point for his own inactivity in the second round. At the
2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Kayaalp won the bronze medal in the
men's Greco-Roman 130 kg event. He defeated Lithuania's
Mantas Knystautas 5–1 in the opening round and Germany's
Eduard Popp 6–2 in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, he lost 2–0 to Cuba's
Mijaín López, with both points coming from cautions. In the bronze medal match, Kayaalp defeated Iran's
Amin Mirzazadeh 7–2. With this result, he became the second Turkish wrestler after
Hamit Kaplan to win medals at three Olympic Games. In 2022, he won one of the bronze medals in his event at the
Vehbi Emre & Hamit Kaplan Tournament, the first United World Wrestling Ranking Series event of the year, held in Istanbul, Turkey. He won the gold medal in the men's 130 kg event at the
2022 European Wrestling Championships held in Budapest, Hungary. Kayaalp claimed a 4–0 victory over Danila Sotnikov from Italy in the 130 kg Greco-Roman division in Hungary's capital. Rıza Kayaalp won his eleventh gold medal in the 130 kg Greco-Roman division. He won the gold medal in the men's 130 kg event at the
Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series 2022, the third United World Wrestling Ranking Series event of the year, held in Rome, Italy. Kayaalp claimed a 4–0 victory over
Sabah Shariati from Azerbaijan in the 130 kg Greco-Roman division. Rıza Kayaalp beats Amin Mirzazadeh of Iran in men's Greco-Roman 130 kg at 2022 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. Kayaalp bagged his fifth world championship as he won gold medal in men's Greco-Roman 120 kg at 2011 Istanbul and three golds in men's Greco-Roman 130 kg at 2015 Las Vegas, 2017 Paris and 2019 Nur-Sultan. Kayaalp became the first Turkish wrestler to win the world championship for the 5th time. Kayaalp, said he had been battling a shoulder injury and other ailments over the past two months during his preparation for Belgrade. "Preparing for the World Championships with the injuries was very hard for me, especially in the last training camp it is very important to stay injury free," Kayaalp said. "I knew that the injuries will affect me in the final fight, so I changed my tactic a little bit. My defense is very good and we knew that." In 2023, Rıza Kayaalp became European Champion for the 12th in Greco-Roman 130 kilogram at the
2023 European Wrestling Championships in Zagreb, Croatia. Kayaalp, 33, defeated
Sabah Shariati from Azerbaijan with a 2–1 result to win the gold medal in the Croatian capital Zagreb. He reached the final with 8–0 technical victories over Boris Petrusic of Serbia,
Oskar Marvik of Norway and
Mantas Knystautas of Lithuania. With this gold, Kayaalp equaled
Aleksandr Karelin's record of 12 European gold medals. Kayaalp won the silver medal at the
2023 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, in the final match of the men's 130 kg wrestling championships in the men's greco-roman style with a 1-1 draw against his Iranian rival
Amin Mirzazadeh with 7 seconds to go and lost the match due to the last point advantage of his Iranian rival. Kayaalp defeated Egyptian
Abdellatif Mohamed 7-2 in the second round match, Estonian
Heiki Nabi 9-0 with technical superiority in the quarterfinal match and Chinese
Meng Lingzhe 3-1 in the semifinal match. With this result, Rıza Kayaalp qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics. He won the silver medal in the
130kg event at the
2024 European Wrestling Championships held in Bucharest, Romania. 7 March 2025, the International Testing Agency announced that the Anti-Doping Chamber of the International Court of Arbitration for Sport has issued a 4-year ban to Rıza Kayaalp after a sample taken on 28 May 2024 was positive for the banned substance Trimetazidine. Effective 1 July 2024, he is banned from the sport for 4 years. His ban will expire on 30 June 2028. Rıza Kayaalp stated that they will appeal the decision and said, “I had a match. I was going to quit wrestling after the Olympics. I continue my struggle. After all, I am a man who retired from wrestling. We will appeal the decision. In the camp two and a half months before the Olympics, I used a medicine because my ear was ringing. That's why the punishment was given. The medicine doesn't help either. It is not a medicine that gives strength. We will appeal the decision of the Court of Arbitration for International Sport (CAS). My heart is at peace but my brain can't digest it. The sports life of such a career athlete cannot be hindered because of an ear medicine”. Following the wrestler’s appeal, the Appeals Arbitration Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport issued a final ruling on 28 October 2025. The CAS panel confirmed the anti-doping rule violation and upheld the disqualification of all results obtained from 28 May 2024, but determined that the athlete did not act intentionally and that he bore No Significant Fault or Negligence. As a result, the period of ineligibility was reduced from four years to 18 months, running from 1 July 2024 and ending on 31 December 2025. On 4 November 2025, Kayaalp announced in a press conference that the CAS ruling effectively cleared him to return to competition from 1 January 2026. He described the process as a “1.5-year ordeal” and reiterated that the positive test resulted from prescribed medication used for tinnitus. Turkish Wrestling Federation President Taha Akgül welcomed the decision, praising Kayaalp’s long-standing clean record. At the
2026 European Wrestling Championships in
Tirana, Albania, Rıza Kayaalp won the gold medal in the
Greco-Roman 130 kg event by defeating Hungary's
Dáriusz Vitek 7–1 in the final, thereby becoming the first wrestler to win 13 European senior titles and surpassing
Aleksandr Karelin's long-standing record of 12 continental gold medals. == Major results ==