"Kırkpınar is a Turkish oil-wrestling (Turkish: yağlı güreş) tournament. It is held annually, usually in late June, near Edirne, Turkey since 1346.Before each bout, the wrestlers pour olive oil over their entire bodies, and the matches take place in an open, grassy field, with the contestants naked except for trousers made of leather, which extend to just below the knee. Victory is achieved when one wrestler either pins the other to the ground (as in many other forms of wrestling) or lifts his opponent above his shoulders.It now holds a Guinness World Record for the longest running sports competition." WIKI
I attended Kırkpınar two years in a row at 2013 and 2014. The 653rd tournament was held this year in Edirne. If you'd like to visit and take photographs, you must first send an e-mail to get accredited. It takes approximately three and a half hour (at most) to travel from Istanbul to Edirne. If you are visiting Turkey and want to shoot some sports photography, I can not think of any better event.
There are some photographers who gave their life work to shoot Kırkpınar, such as Ilyas Göçmen. Göçmen has been shooting this game for 42 years. His photography career is mostly known for these historical oil wrestling pictures.
At my 2013 shots, I mostly used my 70 200 f4 lens. This year I opted to use the 24-70 f2.8 lens with Canon 5D Mark II. Why? Because I sold my telephoto lens :)
The biggest challenge for a photographer at Kırkpınar is the games being held at the same time, same place. It's difficult to capture a clear action. You must use your widest aperture to achieve a clear photo separated from background.
You can find more of my pictures at google+.
