Meryem Erdoğan (formerly ''Mariam Tanga'' or ''Mariam Hana Dingo'', born April 24, 1990) is an

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

n-born

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 ...

long-distance runner. In 2012 Erdoğan was banned for two years after doping.

Personal life

She was born on April 24, 1990, in

. Impressed by her countrywoman

Elvan Abeylegesse Elvan Abeylegesse, (also formerly: Hewan Abeye (አልቫን አበይለገሠ, Amharic) and Elvan Can ( Turkish); born September 11, 1982) is an Ethiopian-born naturalized Turkish middle and long-distance running athlete who competes over d ...

, who became a renowned athlete after acquiring Turkish citizenship, she decided to go to Turkey in order to become an athlete there. In 2006, at age of 16, she illegally immigrated to Turkey via

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

. She was caught by police in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, however barely escaped

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

. Following adventurous times, she was acknowledged as a talented athlete candidate by Ertan Hatipoğlu, the former coach of Abeylegesse. Her application for Turkish citizenship was accepted in January 2010. She took the Turkish name Meryem and chose as surname Erdoğan for her admiration of the Turkish prime minister

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

Sports career

Rejected initially by the clubs

Enkaspor Enkaspor ( tr, Enka Spor Kulübü) is a multi-sports club established in 1983 in Istanbul, Turkey by the Turkish construction conglomerate Enka Construction Co. Enkaspor's main activities are in athletics, water polo, tennis and swimming with 3 ...

and Fenerbahçe Athletics due to her illegal status, Meryem Erdoğan was admitted to Kasımpaşaspor in Istanbul and finally entered

Kocaeli Büyükşehir Belediyesi Kağıt Spor Kulübü The Kocaeli Büyükşehir Belediyesi Kağıt Spor Kulübü, aka Kocaeli BB Kağıtspor, is a multi-sports club sponsored by the Metropolitan Municipality of Kocaeli in Turkey. It was founded in 1937 as "İzmit Kağıtspor", a sports club of the ...

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 ...

, where she is being coached by Öznur Dursun, a former national female athlete. She participated at various international long-distance runs held in Turkey under her Ethiopian identification as Mariam Tanga or Mariam Hana Dingo. In 2009, she placed second at the

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcu ...

Trabzon Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the Bl ...

and fourth in the

15 km 15km or 15km may refer to: *15km, common course in Road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural ...

run at the 31st Eurasia Marathon in Istanbul. In March of the same year, she won the

10 km 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

road run of the 4th International Runtalya Marathon 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 ...

with a time of 33:09. Her international debut following her acquirement of a Turkish passport was at the

Papaflessia Papaflessia ( el, Παπαφλέσσεια) is an annual international track and field meeting that is held in Kalamata, Greece. The meeting falls within the European Athletic Association's calendar of meeting. The event caters to both men and women ...

international meeting held in

Kalamata Kalamáta ( el, Καλαμάτα ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula, after Patras, in southern Greece and the largest city of the homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia reg ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

on May 29, 2010, where she won the

1500 m The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

event in 4:16.92. At her next international participation, the 14th

European Cup 10000m The European 10,000m Cup is an annual 10,000 metres race for European athletes which was first held in 1997. The competition is organised by the European Athletics Association and first began as the European 10000 Metres Challenge (''European 1 ...

held on June 5, 2010, in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, she placed fourth in a personal best time of 31:55.53. On July 28, 2010, Erdoğan finished fifth in the 10000 m final at the

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, ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, clocking a new personal best of 31:44.86. Four days later, on August 1, 2010, she finished seventh in the 5000 m final, in another personal best time of 15:14.92. She became the women's under-23 champion at the

2010 European Cross Country Championships The 2010 European Cross Country Championships was a continental cross country running competition that took place on 12 December in Albufeira, Portugal. It was the second time that the country hosted the event, building upon the 1997 edition hel ...

, winning by a margin of nine seconds.UNDER 23 WOMEN'S FINAL: Turkey’s Erdogan fulfils her role as favourite
. European Athletics (2010-12-12). Retrieved on 2010-12-12. In 2012 Erdoğan was banned for two years after doping.

Performance progression

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Erdogan, Meryem 1990 births Living people Naturalized citizens of Turkey Turkish female long-distance runners Ethiopian female long-distance runners Turkish sportspeople in doping cases Ethiopian emigrants to Turkey Kocaeli Büyükşehir Belediyesi Kağıt Spor Kulübü sportspeople Doping cases in athletics Turkish female marathon runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Turkey Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic female marathon runners Place of birth missing (living people)