Ali Sofuoğlu (born June 3, 1995) is a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

karateka (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

competing in the

kata ''Kata'' is a Japanese word ( 型 or 形) meaning "form". It refers to a detailed choreographed pattern of martial arts movements made to be practised alone. It can also be reviewed within groups and in unison when training. It is practised ...

. He is a member of Kağıthane Belediyesi S.K. In 2021, he won one of the bronze medals in the men's kata event at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in Tokyo, Japan.

Career

Ali Sofuoğlu was already European champion at the cadet level in 2010 and 2011. In the juniors he was runner-up three times in a row from 2011 to 2013. At the U21 level, he finally managed to win the World Championship in 2015 and also became European champion two more times in 2014 and 2016. In the adult field, he was already part of the Turkish team that won the bronze medal at the European Championships in Adeje in 2012. His next podium finish came at the 2017 European Championships in İzmit when he finished second in the singles behind Damián Quintero. He repeated this success both in 2018 in Novi Sad and in 2019 in Guadalajara, both times again behind Damián Quintero. In addition, he finished second with the team in 2018 and third in 2019. In 2018, Sofuoğlu also finished third at the World Championships in Madrid. A year later, he once again finished second behind Damián Quintero at the European Games in Minsk. At the 2020 World Championships held in Dubai in 2021, Sofuoğlu secured third place in the individual and team events, while in Poreč he became European champion in these two disciplines. In 2022, he successfully defended his title in the individual and team events in Gaziantep. Sofuoğlu qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, also held in 2021, through the Olympic Rankings. He finished the group stage in second place behind Ryō Kiyuna with 27.32 points, advancing to the bronze medal duel against Park Hee-jun. With 27.26 points, he surpassed Park's score of 26.14 points and secured the medal. Behind Olympic champion Ryō Kiyuna and second-place finisher Damián Quintero, Ariel Torres also won a bronze medal alongside Sofuoğlu.https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1111336/kiyuna-wins-mens-olympic-kata-title

Achievements

;2017: *

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

– 6 May,

İzmit İzmit () is a district and the central district of Kocaeli province, Turkey. It is located at the Gulf of İzmit in the Sea of Marmara, about east of Istanbul, on the northwestern part of Anatolia. As of the last 31/12/2019 estimation, the c ...

, TUR – kata, ;2021: *

2020 Summer Olympic Games The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

- 6 August,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, JPN - Kata,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sofuoglu, Ali 1995 births Living people Turkish male karateka European Games medalists in karate Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor athletes Karateka at the 2019 European Games European Games silver medalists for Turkey Karateka at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic karateka of Turkey Olympic medalists in karate Olympic bronze medalists for Turkey Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Islamic Solidarity Games medalists in karate Islamic Solidarity Games competitors for Turkey 21st-century Turkish people