Ali Bahçetepe

Known as "Iron Fist", Ali Bahçetepe became world champion thirty times in the GyokPa (breaking) discipline of taekwondo and set twenty-one Guinness world records in that field. He was famous for breaking as many as thirty-seven concrete blocks with a single punch, and also served as an international taekwondo referee. He lived in Datça for many years, ran a gym in the district and coached the young people who passed through it. Having twice overcome cancer, he died in March 2026 at the age of seventy at Bursa City Hospital. In accordance with his wishes he was buried in Datça's Mesudiye Mezgit neighbourhood.

That a world record holder chose Datça as his home, and that his last wish was to be buried here, says something about the peninsula's hold on people. For the young people trained in his gym, Bahçetepe was a byword for discipline and persistence — his twice overcoming illness is part of that story. He is the most visible name in Datça's sporting history.