Pınar Saka (born 5 November 1985) is a Turkish female

track running Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete in the sprint discipline competing in the categories 100 m, 200 m and

400 m The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is o ...

. She is the Turkish national record holder for

. This time is the first time a Turkish woman ran under 52 seconds and also a qualifying mark for Olympics that will be held in London in 2012. She was chosen as Regional Athlete of the Year in Midwest both in 2008 and 2009. There were 8 regional athletes nominated for "National Athlete of the Year" award and in 2009, she receiveds that honor. Saka was born in

Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a large and densely populated district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered to the north by Beykoz, to the east by Ümraniye, to the southeast by Ataşehir and to the south by Kadıköy; ...

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

. She studied international business at the

University of Nebraska at Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (Omaha or UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was originally kno ...

in the USA. The tall athlete at is a member of

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 ...

, where she is coached by Öznur Dursun. Saka participated at the 2005 Mediterranean Games in

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city g ...

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 ...

in the categories 4x100 m relay, 400 m and 4x400 m relay. She ran bronze medal in the 4x400 m relay in 3:40.75 with her teammates Birsen Bekgöz, Özge Gürler and

Binnaz Uslu Binnaz Uslu (born March 12, 1985, in Ankara) is a retired Turkish middle-distance and long-distance runner. She was banned from sport for life in 2014, after her second doping violation. The tall athlete at is a member of Enkaspor athletic ...

. In 2011 Saka won the silver medal at the 26th Summer Universiade 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 ...

together with a team consisting of Nagihan Karadere, Merve Aydın and Meliz Redif, with a time of 3.31.05. Saka qualified for participation in the

event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She is doing her MBA degree at

Boğaziçi University Boğaziçi University ( tr, Boğaziçi Üniversitesi), also known as Bosphorus University, is a major research university in Istanbul, Turkey. Its main campus is located on the European side of the Bosphorus strait. It has six faculties and tw ...

in Istanbul.

Doping

Pınar Saka was in 2013 sanctioned as a result of abnormalities detected in her

biological passport An athlete biological passport is an individual electronic record for professional athletes, in which profiles of biological markers of doping and results of doping tests are collated over a period of time. Doping violations can be detected by n ...

. She was disqualified from 18 June 2010 and got three years ineligibility ending 23 May 2015.

Achievements

Her personal best performances are: * 100 m 11.93 (2003) * 200 m 23.97 (2003) * 200 m Indoor 23.90 * 400 m 51.53 (2011) NR * 400 m Indoor 52.99 (2011) NR NR: Turkish national record

References

1985 births Doping cases in athletics Turkish sportspeople in doping cases Living people Turkish female sprinters Enkaspor athletes Sportspeople from Istanbul University of Nebraska alumni Boğaziçi University alumni Olympic athletes of Turkey Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Turkey Athletes (track and field) at the 2005 Mediterranean Games Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics Universiade silver medalists for Turkey Medalists at the 2011 Summer Universiade Olympic female sprinters {{Turkey-athletics-bio-stub