Burcu Sallakoğlu (born August 13, 1987) 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 ...

female

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

practitioner competing in the heavyweight (72 kg) class. She is from

Adana Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana Province, Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million. Adana lies in the heart ...

. She is a member of the Büyükşehir Belediye Ankara SK.

Personal life

She grew up in a family with domestic violence. Her father used to mistreat her mother. The family's financial status was very good, but there was not an atmosphere of peace. Her parents had severe cultural differences due to parentage. The family spent almost all assets for the father's therapy. Burcu's father died at the age of 35 from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

. Her mother made self-sacrifice, and tried to run her husband's business, however, without success. The family came into major financial diffulties. Burcu was at the age of twelve. At this time, she began with taekwondo at Adana Tezel Aslanlar, a nearby sport club, where her coach Rıdvan Kurt and his wife gave her a warm familiar atmosphere. She liked taekwondo much, which helped her to forget all the bad things she experienced before. She was educated in English-speaking schools and learnt playing the piano as her father was alive. However, she then dropped out of the high school, only to complete her secondary education in later years.

Sport career

In 2011, she left her club Adana Tezel Aslanlar, where she competed in youth and junior categories, to join the Büyükşehir Belediye Ankara SK. Burcu Sallakoğlu won the silver medal in heavyweight at the

2008 European Taekwondo Championships The 2008 European Taekwondo Championships were held in Rome, Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and ...

held in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Achievements

* 2005 German Open -

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

-67 kg * 2008 A-Class German Open -

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

-72 kg * 2008 European Championships -

-72 kg

References

1987 births Sportspeople from Adana Living people Turkish female taekwondo practitioners Turkish female martial artists European Taekwondo Championships medalists World Taekwondo Championships medalists 20th-century Turkish sportswomen 21st-century Turkish sportswomen {{Turkey-taekwondo-bio-stub