Aysel Özkan (born 26 February 2002) is a Turkish

weightlifter Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lift ...

competing in the 64 kg.

Personal life

Aysel Özkan was born on 26 February 2002. She has a one-year younger sister Cansel. Both girls grew up in the Children's Home Coordination Center ( tr, Çocuk Evi Koordinasyon Merkezi, ÇEKOM) in

Niğde Niğde (; grc, Νίγδη; Hittite: Nahita, Naxita) is a city and the capital of Niğde province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey at an elevation of 1,299 m. In 2017 the city population was 141,010 people. The city is small with plenty ...

. After their father's death in 2009, they followed their mother to her hometown

Gaziantep Gaziantep (), previously and still informally called Aintab or Antep (), is a major city and capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region, approximat ...

. Due to family problems, the two sisters returned to Niğde one year later, and were placed in the ÇEKOM again. She is a student of

Sports coaching A sports coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''coach'' is that of a horse-drawn carriage, deriving ultimately from the Hung ...

in the Sports Science Faculty at

Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University ( tr, Niğde Ömer Halisdemir Üniversitesi) (Formerly known as "Nigde University" until 2016) is a public higher educational institution located in Niğde, Central Anatolia in Turkey. It has six faculties, two ...

Sport career

Özkan started weightlifting in 2014 with the advice of a trainer in this sport branch. She took part in the U17 59 kg division of the

2019 European Youth Weightlifting Championships The 2019 European Youth Weightlifting Championships took place at the Leonardo Club Hotel in Eilat, Israel from 7 to 14 December 2019. Medal overview Under-15 Boys Girls Youth (Under-17) Boys Girls Medal table Ranking by Big (Total resul ...

held in

Eilat Eilat ( , ; he, אֵילַת ; ar, إِيلَات, Īlāt) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan ...

, Israel, and won the gold medal in the snatch, the bronze medal in the clean & jerk event taking the silver medal in total. At the

2021 Junior World Weightlifting Championships The 2021 Junior World Weightlifting Championships were held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from 23 to 31 May 2021. Medal table Ranking by Big (Total result) medals Ranking by all medals: Big (Total result) and Small (Snatch and Clean & Jerk) Meda ...

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

, Uzbekistan, she placed fourth in the 71 kg Özkan took the silver medal in the snatch, the bronze medal in the clean & jerk event, reaching to the silver medal in total of the Juniors 64 kg division at the 2021 European Junior & U23 Weightlifting Championships in

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; sme, Roavvenjárga ; smn, Ruávinjargâ; sms, Ruäʹvnjargg) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern part Per� ...

, Finland. At the

2021 World Weightlifting Championships The 2021 World Weightlifting Championships was a weightlifting competition held from 7 to 17 December in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Due to concerns about the rapid spread of Omicron variant and held shortly after Olympics and Chinese National Games, t ...

in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, she placed sixth in the 64 kg division. She won the bronze medal in the 71 kg snatch event and ranked four in total at the

2022 European Weightlifting Championships The 2022 European Weightlifting Championships are scheduled to be held in Tirana, Albania, from 28 May to 5 June 2022. The event was initially scheduled to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria, but this changed after a leadership dispute. Medal overview ...

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

, Albania. She took the bronze medal in the 71 kg snatch event and placed fourth at the 2022 Junior World Weightlifting Championships in

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban A ...

, Greece. She received the silver medal in the snatch, the gold medal in the clean & jerk event and the silver medal in total of the 71 kg division at the

2021 Islamic Solidarity Games ‌The 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games ( tr, 2021 İslami Dayanışma Oyunları) were the 5th edition of the event held from 9 to 18 August 2022 at Konya, Turkey under the aegis of Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation (ISSF). It was the first time ...

Konya Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it D ...

, Turkey. She broke the Games record of the clean & jerk event with 121 kg. In 2022 at the European Junior & U23 Weightlifting Championships in

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of ...

, Albania, she became bronze medalist in total taking the bronze medal in the snatch and the silver in the clean & jerk event of the 71 kg division. At the 2023 European Weightlifting Championships in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

, Armenia, she won the silver medal in the 64 kg snatch event and ranked four in total. She reached to the bronze medal at the 2024 European Championships in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

, Bulgaria. She exercises at the Turkey Olympics Preparation Center ( tr, Türkiye Olimpiyat Hazırlık Merkezi, TOHM) in Konya.

Achievements

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozkan, Aysel 2002 births Living people Sportspeople from Niğde Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University alumni Turkish female weightlifters Islamic Solidarity Games medalists in weightlifting 21st-century Turkish sportswomen Islamic Solidarity Games gold medalists for Turkey Islamic Solidarity Games silver medalists for Turkey Medalists at the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games