Aslı Çakır Alptekin (born 20 August 1985 in

Antalya Antalya () is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish cit ...

) is a former

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 ...

female Female (Venus symbol, symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ovum, ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the Sperm, male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gamet ...

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

. A member of the Üsküdar Belediyespor in

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, she is coached by her husband, runner Ihsan Alptekin. She was banned for life for repeated doping offenses.

Athletics career

She is tall and . Alptekin won the gold medal in the 1500 m at the

2011 Summer Universiade The 2011 Summer Universiade ( zh, c=2011年夏季世界大学生运动会, p=Èr líng yī yī Nián xiàjì shìjiè dàxuéshēng yùndònghuì), the XXVI Summer Universiade ( zh, c=第二十六届夏季世界大学生运动会, p=Dì Èrshíl ...

held in

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. She also won the bronze medal in the 1500 m event at the 2012 World Indoor Championships held in

. Both of these titles were later stripped off her upon failed doping tests. Alptekin recorded her personal best in 1500m with 3:56.62 at the

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

meet in Paris on 6 July 2012. Six weeks later, she won the gold medal at the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in the 1500 m event. Alptekin was also stripped of her Olympic title as a result of her use of banned substances and methods.

Doping cases

Alptekin received a two-year ban from the track in September 2004 due to positive testing for illegal substances. The positive test came at the 2004 World Junior Championships, where she was the fastest in the heats of the

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

and placed sixth in the final. On 22 March 2013, several news agencies reported that Alptekin was one of eight athletes who tested positive for banned substances. Alptekin faced a lifetime ban if the positive test was upheld. Neither the IAAF nor WADA officially commented on the doping allegation. On 3 December, the Turkish Athletic Federation announced that they had cleared her of the charges. The IAAF subsequently appealed the Turkish federation's decision to clear Alptekin to the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its co ...

and again suspended the athlete from competition. On 17 August 2015, the

says it approved a settlement agreed to by Alptekin and the IAAF. Alptekin agreed to give up her 1500 m Olympic title and serve an eight-year ban for

blood doping Blood doping is a form of doping in which the number of red blood cells in the bloodstream is boosted in order to enhance athletic performance. Because such blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the muscles, a higher concentration in the bl ...

. Alptekin forfeited all her results from 29 July 2010, including the 2012 Olympic gold and her 2012 European Championship title. She returned that year after the ban was halved and its start date backdated to 2013, but has since reoffended. On 23 September 2017, Alptekin was banned for life after a third doping offence. "We are never, ever going to allow doping," said Turkish Athletics Federation chief Fatih Cintimar.

Personal life

Alptekin returned to the tracks in 2006, motivated by her future husband İhsan Alptekin, who gave up his athletics career early to coach her. The two married in 2011 in Aslı's hometown of

. Alptekin was a student of physical education and sports at the Dumlupınar University in

Kütahya Kütahya () (historically, Cotyaeum or Kotyaion, Ancient Greek, Greek: Κοτύαιον) is a city in western Turkey which lies on the Porsuk River, Porsuk river, at 969 metres above sea level. It is inhabited by some 578,640 people (2022 estimate) ...

International competitions

References

External links