İlke Özyüksel Mihrioğlu (born 26 February 1997) is a Turkish modern pentathlete. She won the bronze medal in the women's individual event at the 2022 World Modern Pentathlon Championships held in Alexandria, Egypt.

Private life

İlke Özyüksel was born to a retired worker father and a school counselor mother in Ankara on 26 February 1997. Her mother had lost her sight at the age of 15 due to ocular hypertension. Despite her visual impairment, she finished her higher education as the highest-ranked student. İlke became very sick two weeks after her birth. In the beginning, it was thought that she had cancer. However, a Turkish physician working in the United States, who was in Turkey for a three-day conference, diagnosed her with

Infantile hemangioma An infantile hemangioma (IH), sometimes called a strawberry mark due to appearance, is a type of benign vascular tumor or anomaly that affects babies. Other names include capillary hemangioma, strawberry hemangioma, strawberry birthmark and str ...

, which can be fatal if not treated. She underwent a laser therapy, and could get her health again. She was operated five times on vascular disease. She graduated from

Ankara University Ankara University ( tr, Ankara Üniversitesi) is a public university in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the formation of the republic in 1923. The university has 40 vocat ...

's Department of Physical Education. Her father died from cancer by mid 2019.

Sports career

At the age of only nine, Özyüksel became champion at the World Championships for Cadets. In 2014, she decided to quit pentathlon upon suggestions of her coach. However, the Federation insisted in her career, and sent her for training to Hungary, where she stayed eleven months. After she broke a world record there, she became unwelcome by the Hungarian coach, and had to return home ahead of schedule. After her return, the Federation set up a 10-member team including a

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

, a dietitian, a

masseur Massage is the manipulation of the body's soft tissues. Massage techniques are commonly applied with hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearms, feet or a device. The purpose of massage is generally for the treatment of body stress or pain. In Eu ...

and a physician, to prepare her for the Olympics. She trained eight hours a day for four and half months. She won the gold medal at the

UIPM The ''Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne'' ( en, International Modern Pentathlon Union), commonly known by the acronym UIPM, has been the international governing body of modern pentathlon since its foundation in London in 1948. Its hea ...

2015 Youth "A" World Championships held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. At the same competition, she set two world records for youth, in overall with 1,065 points and in combined with a time of 11:55.00 and 585 points. She earned a quota spot at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She is the first ever Olympic modern pentathlon participant from Turkey. At the 2017 European Championships in Minsk, Belarus, she took the bronze medal. In the Stage 4 of 2017 World Cup held in

Drzonków Drzonków (german: Drentkau) is a district of the city of Zielona Góra, in western Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, c ...

, Poland, she won the bronze medal, and set a world record for juniors in combined with a time of 11:57.53 and 583 points. Özyüksel captured the gold medal at the 2018 Modern Pentathlon Junior European Championships held in El Prat de Llobregat, Spain. She broke the world record with a total of 1,376 points competing in the five events of fencing, swimming, riding and shootin events. She set world records in the running and the shooting events at the

2019 European Modern Pentathlon Championships The 2019 European Modern Pentathlon Championships was held in Bath, Somerset, Bath, Great Britain from 6 to 11 August 2019. The event was to be the 27th edition of the competition, and the third held in Great Britain. The event was a direct Moder ...

held in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, United Kingdom. In 2019, she received the "Mustafa V. Koç Sports Award" worth of 250,000 (approx. USD 47,000). The prize was established jointly by the

Koç Holding Koç Holding A.Ş. () is the largest industrial conglomerate in Turkey, and the only company in the country to be listed on the Fortune Global 500 as of 2016. The company, headquartered in Nakkaştepe, Istanbul, is controlled by the Koç family, ...

and the Turkish Olympic Committee in commemoration of the late

Mustafa Vehbi Koç Mustafa Vehbi Koç (October 29, 1960 – January 21, 2016) was a Turkish businessman and a third generation member of the Koç family. He is best known as the chairman of Koç Holding, a position he held from 2003 until his death in 2016. Pri ...

(1960–2016). A short movie focusing on her life and career named 'Ilke' is released in 2019. Özyüksel participated at the Tokyo Olympics and finished fifth. She is a member of Altınordu Sports Club.

Records

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ozyuksel, Ilke 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Ankara Ankara University alumni Turkish female modern pentathletes Modern pentathletes at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics Modern pentathletes at the 2016 Summer Olympics Modern pentathletes at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic modern pentathletes for Turkey European Games competitors for Turkey Modern pentathletes at the 2023 European Games