Among all

sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, the most popular one is

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. Turkey's top teams include Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

. In 2000, Galatasaray won the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

and

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

. Two years later, the Turkish national team finished third in the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

Finals in Japan and South Korea, while in 2008, the national team reached the semi-finals of the

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

competition. The

Atatürk Olympic Stadium The Atatürk Olympic Stadium ( tr, Atatürk Olimpiyat Stadyumu, ) is a stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. Located in the western district of İkitelli, it is the largest-capacity stadium in the country. The stadium is named after Mustafa Kemal Atat ...

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, ...

hosted the

2005 UEFA Champions League Final The 2005 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, Europe's primary club football competition. The showpiece event was contested between Liverpool of England and Milan of Italy at the Atatürk Olym ...

, while the

Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium The Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium () (Known for sponsorship reasons as Ülker Stadyumu Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Spor Kompleksi, or Ülker Stadium for short) is a football stadium located in the Kadıköy district of Istanbul, Turkey. It is th ...

in Istanbul hosted the

2009 UEFA Cup Final The 2009 UEFA Cup Final was the final match of the 2008–09 UEFA Cup, the 38th season of the UEFA Cup, UEFA's second-tier club football tournament. It was also the last final to be held under the UEFA Cup name, as the competition was rebranded as ...

. Other popular mainstream sports include

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

. Turkey hosted the Finals of EuroBasket 2001 and the

2010 FIBA World Cup The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 September 2010. It was co-organised by the Inte ...

the men's national team finishing second in both events. The national team also reached the quarter-finals of the

2006 FIBA World Cup The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised by ...

, and

2014 FIBA World Cup The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the tournament previously known as the FIBA World Championship. Hosted by Spain, it was the last tournament to be held on the then-current four-year cycle ...

. At the club level,

Anadolu Efes Anadolu Efes Biracılık ve Malt Sanayii A.Ş.''(lit. Anadolu Efes Brewery and Malt Industries)'' produces and markets beer and malt and non-alcoholic beverages in a wide geographical area comprising Turkey, Russia, the Commonwealth of Independe ...

(then known as Efes Pilsen) won the FIBA Korać Cup in 1996, finished second in the FIBA Saporta Cup in 1993, and made it to the Final Four of the EuroLeague in 2000 and 2001 as the first Turkish club in history. In the following years,

have come out as the winners of the FIBA EuroChallenge in the 2011–12 season with only a single defeat, all stages of the tournament included. Later on, Galatasaray won the EuroCup title in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

. In the following 2016–17 Euroleague season, Fenerbahçe won Europe's highest-tier basketball league, the EuroLeague, as the first Turkish club ever, which was followed by

in the 2020–21 Euroleague season. Turkish basketball players such as

Mehmet Okur Mehmet Murat Okur (born 26 May 1979) is a Turkish former professional basketball player. Listed at , he played as a power forward and center. Okur is known for his three-point shooting and ability to space the floor. In his seven seasons with ...

, Hidayet Türkoğlu and Ersan İlyasova have also been successful in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

. Active Turkish NBA players include

Cedi Osman Cedi Osman (born 8 April 1995) is a Turkish professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays the small forward position. Early years Osman was born in Ohrid, Macedonia, modern-da ...

Furkan Korkmaz Furkan Korkmaz (born 24 July 1997) is a Turkish professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was born and raised in Istanbul, and was selected 26th in the 2016 NBA draft. Korkmaz is ...

, Enes Kanter, and

Ersan Ilyasova Ersan is a Turkish given name for males. People named Ersan include: * Ersan Dogu, Turkish footballer *Ersan Erdura, a Turkish singer * Ersan Gülüm, Turkish footballer * Ersan İlyasova, Turkish basketball player * Ersan Keleş Ersan Keleş (als ...

. Women's volleyball teams, namely Fenerbahçe,

Eczacıbaşı Eczacıbaşı Holding is a Turkish industrial group of companies founded in 1942. The group with 44 companies has 11,400 employees and a combined net turnover of TL 11.1 billion in 2020. Group Eczacıbaşı's core sectors are building products, ...

and Vakıfbank, have won numerous European championship titles and medals. Vakıfbank is currently one of the best volleyball teams in the world, 3 time winner of the

Club World Championship Club World Championship may refer to: * FIFA Club World Cup, a football competition ** Intercontinental Cup (football), the unofficial predecessor to the FIFA Club World Cup ** FIFA Intercontinental Cup The FIFA Intercontinental Cup is a pla ...

and 4 time European championship winner. The yellow-black team is also the most successful sports team of Turkey in International arena with the title of the most international trophy (9) holder of Turkey. Fenerbahçe also won the

as the first Turkish club ever in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. Turkey Women's National Basketball team won the silver medal in the European Championship in 2011 while the Women's National Volleyball Team reached the 6th place in the World Championship in 2010 and won a bronze medal in European Championship in 2011. Turkish athletes recently achieved success in European level;

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 ...

winning gold medal in Women's 10000 metres and silver in Women's 5000 metres, Alemitu Bekele winning gold medal in Women's 5000 metres and

Nevin Yanıt Nevin Yanıt (born February 16, 1986) is a Turkish former sprinter specializing in high hurdling. On 29 August 2013, Yanit was banned from athletic competition for two years following a failed doping test in February 2013. After IAAF appealed ...

winning gold medal in Women's 100 metres Hurdl in 2010 European Championship. In

2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from 4 to 6 March 2011. 577 athletes representing 46 countries competed at the championships. Twenty-six track and field events we ...

Kemal Koyuncu Kemal Koyuncu (born January 25, 1985 in Inegöl, Bursa Province) is a Turkish middle and long-distance runner. He is a member of Fenerbahçe Athletics club in Istanbul. Achievements * 5,000 m - 6th European Athletics U23 Championships on Ju ...

won silver in Men's 1500 metres and

Halil Akkas Halil is a common Turkish male given name. It is equivalent to the Arabic given name and surname Khalil or its variant Khaleel. Notable persons with the name include: * Halil Akbunar (born 1993), Turkish footballer * Halil Akkaş (born 1983), Tu ...

won bronze in Men's 3000 metres. The traditional Turkish national sport has been the oil wrestling ("Yağlı güreş") since Ottoman times. Edirne hosts the annual

Kırkpınar Kırkpınar is a Turkish oil wrestling ( tr, yağlı güreş) tournament where Pehlivans (wrestlers) compete for three days. It is held annually, usually in late June, near Edirne, Turkey since 1360. In the finals held on the last day, the first ...

oiled wrestling tournament since 1361. International wrestling styles governed by

FILA Fila Holdings Corp. is a sportswear brand of shoes and apparel. The company was founded by Ettore and Giansevero Fila in 1911 in Coggiola, near Biella, Piedmont, Italy. In 2003, it was sold to United States-based Sports Brand International. Sub ...

such as

Freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling ...

and

Greco-Roman wrestling Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), classic wrestling (Euro English) or French wrestling (in Russia until 1948) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first mod ...

are also popular, with many European, World and Olympic championship titles won by Turkish wrestlers both individually and as a national team. Another major sport in which the Turks have been internationally successful is

weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift Weight training#Equipment, weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various t ...

Football

Turkey has risen to prominence in a number of sporting areas in recent decades.

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

has seen a rapid transformation earning it third place in the coveted

. Its domestic teams are dominated by

, Fenerbahçe, and Galatasaray. Of these, Fenerbahçe's European triumph came in the now defunct

Balkans Cup The Balkans Cup was an international football competition for clubs from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1961 and was very popular in the 1960s (the 1967 final attracted 42,000 spectators), being t ...

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

. Galatasaray has seen success after the 1990s, winning the 2000

and

. In recent years, Turkey has exported many of its players into top foreign teams, including Internazionale,

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, and

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

, among others. As well as sending players abroad, the Turkish league has also attracted players into Turkey. World class players such as Pierre van Hooijdonk,

Mário Jardel Mário Jardel de Almeida Ribeiro (; born 18 September 1973) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was most noted for his positioning on the field and his heading ability. He was a legend for Grêmio, playi ...

, Nicolas Anelka,

John Carew John Alieu Carew (born 5 September 1979) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was capped 91 times, scoring 24 goals for the Norway national team. As of 2023, he has been hired until the end of 2024 at Norw ...

, Milan Baroš,

Radomir Antić Radomir Antić ( sr-Cyrl, Радомир Антић, ; 22 November 1948 – 6 April 2020) was a Serbian professional football manager and player. Following a 17-year playing career as a defender, most of which he spent playing at Partizan, wit ...

Óscar Córdoba Óscar Eduardo Córdoba Arce (born 3 February 1970) is a Colombian retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played more than 70 games for the Colombia national team. He is also the only person to never concede a goal in a ...

, Lincoln, Mateja Kežman, Kleberson, Roberto Carlos,

Zoran Simović Zoran Simović (Cyrillic: Зоран Симовић; born 2 November 1954) is a former Yugoslav and Montenegrin footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Simović was named the Yugoslav Footballer of the Year in 1983. He also won the Turkish Foo ...

Frank de Boer Franciscus de Boer (; born 15 May 1970) is a Dutch football manager who was most recently the head coach of the Netherlands national team. A former defender, De Boer spent most of his professional playing career with Ajax, winning five Eredi ...

, Giovani dos Santos, Franck Ribéry,

Harry Kewell Harry Kewell (born 22 September 1978) is an Australian association football coach, manager and former player. His most recent role as a club manager was at English National League side Barnet, and he is currently a first team coach at Celtic F.C ...

Dani Güiza Daniel González Güiza (; born 17 August 1980) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for UD Algaida. A late bloomer, he made a name for himself at the age of 27, being crowned La Liga top scorer with Mallorca. Subsequent ...

Guti José María Gutiérrez Hernández (born 31 October 1976), known as Guti, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, currently a manager. During his career, he played almost exclusively for Real Madrid ...

, Quaresma, Gheorghe Hagi,

Jô João Alves de Assis Silva (born 20 March 1987), known as Jô () or João Alves, is a Brazilian professional footballer. He has previously played for Nagoya Grampus, CSKA Moscow, Manchester City, Everton, Galatasaray, Internacional, Atlétic ...

, Abdul Kader Keita,

Shabani Nonda Shabani Christophe Nonda (born 6 March 1977) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. Born in Burundi, he represented the DR Congo national team, earning 36 caps and scoring 20 goals. He was selected for DR Congo's squad fo ...

, Lucas Neill,

Lorik Cana Lorik Agim Cana (; born 27 July 1983) is an Albanian former professional footballer. He is currently the Grassroots ambassador for children's football in Albania, named by the Albanian Football Association on 26 October 2017. Cana played in the ...

, Giga Popescu,

Jérôme Rothen Jérôme René Marcel Rothen (born 31 March 1978) is a French former professional footballer who played as a winger. Rothen won 13 caps for the France national football team. He represented his country at the 2004 European Football Champions ...

and many more have played at some point or continue to play in Turkey.

Basketball

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

is also gaining popularity in Turkey.

came in second at the

European Basketball Championship EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

in Istanbul. Turkey also came in ninth at the

2002 FIBA World Cup The 2002 FIBA World Championship was the 14th edition of the competition now known as the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the international world championship for men's basketball teams. The tournament held by the International Basketball Federation in ...

. Several Turkish nationals, including Ersan İlyasova,

Hedo Türkoğlu Hidayet "Hedo" Türkoğlu (; born March 19, 1979) is a Turkish basketball executive and former professional player. A forward, Türkoğlu played for six teams in his 15-season career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He won the NBA ...

Semih Erden Semih Erden (born July 28, 1986) is a Turkish professional basketball player for Türk Telekom of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL). Standing at , he plays at the center position. Professional career Early years Erden played with Darüşşafaka in ...

Ömer Aşık Ömer Faruk Aşık (; born July 4, 1986) is a Turkish former professional basketball player who last played for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Aşık, standing at 7'2", was sought after by many of the top Eurolea ...

, and Enes Kanter, have played in the prestigious

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

, generally considered the world's top basketball league. Turkey's greatest success in international basketball came when it hosted the

, finishing second behind the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Hedo Turkoglu captained the national side and made the all-tournament team. Turkey also advanced to the quarter-finals in the

, achieving a non-expected sixth place. Turkey reached the quarter-finals again eight years later at the

. The

Turkey women's national basketball team The Turkey women's national basketball team is the women's basketball side that represents Turkey in international tournaments. They have come away from the EuroBasket tournaments with a bronze medal in 2011 and silver medal in 2013. Competit ...

won the silver medal at the

EuroBasket Women EuroBasket Women is a biennial international women's basketball competition held between the nations of FIBA Europe for women's national teams. EuroBasket Women is also used as a qualifying tournament for the FIBA Women's World Cup and also the ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. At a club level, the most successful team has been Fenerbahçe S.K. and

Anadolu Efes S.K. Anadolu Efes Spor Kulübü ( en, Anadolu Efes Sports Club), formerly known as Efes Pilsen, is a Turkish professional basketball team based in Istanbul, Turkey. Efes is the most recent Euroleague champion and on the first place of European Club ...

, the latter having won the FIBA Korać Cup in 1996 and the Euroleague in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

and

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

. Fenerbahce currently has the most Euroleague Final Four appearances (5) and was the first Turkish team to win the title in the 2016–17 season. Galatasaray won the EuroCup title, Europe's second-tier basketball league, in

. Past achievements also include Besiktas' FIBA EuroChallenge title in the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. In women's basketball, Galatasaray won the 2008-09 FIBA EuroCup, finished third in the same competition in 2007-08, and also was runner-up in the 2009 FIBA Europe SuperCup Women.

Volleyball

Volleyball, especially women's volleyball is a popular sport in Turkey. Recently

Turkey women's national volleyball team The Turkey women's national volleyball team ( tr, Türkiye Kadın Voleybol Milli Takımı) is formed by the Turkish Volleyball Federation (TVF) and represents Turkey in international CEV and FIVB organizations. The team is one of the most ...

secured 6th place at the

FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship The FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship is an international volleyball competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of ' (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The initial gap between championships was varia ...

in 2010 in Japan, and won a bronze medal at the Women's European Volleyball Championship in 2011 in Serbia. Turkey's top women's volleyball team is Vakıfbank, which have won undefeated 3 Championships at the FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship in 2013,2017 and 2018. 5 Championship undefeated at the CEV Women's Champions League in 2011,2013,2017,2018 and 2022 season and the gold medal in both

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

and

Women's Top Volley International The Women's Top Volley International is an international women's volleyball club cup competition played annually in Basel, Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are install ...

in the 2007-08 season. Another prominent Turkish women's volleyball club is Fenerbahçe, which have won the FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship undefeated in

, the silver medal in the CEV Women's Champions League in the 2009-10 season and finishing in third place during the 2010-11 season. Vakifbanksk2018cl

Turkey featured a men's national team in

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

that competed at the

2018–2020 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup The 2018–2020 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup were a beach volleyball double-gender event. Teams representing European countries were split into groups of four, where an elimination bracket determined the two teams to advance to the next stag ...

Handball

Yeliz Özel Yeliz Özel (born 6 March 1980, in Ankara) is a Turkish handballer, who plays for İzmir Büyükşehir Belediyesi GSK and the Turkish national team. She is widely considered best handball player ever from Turkey. Playing career Club She star ...

from Ankara is a Turkish handballer considered to be one of the world's best playmakers from women's handball of its time.

Athletics

Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

is another fast improving sport.

Süreyya Ayhan Süreyya Ayhan Kop (born September 6, 1978) is a Turkish former female middle distance track runner who specialised in the 1500 metres. In November 2009, she was banned for life by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) due to her second anti ...

set the

1500m 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 ...

world record in 2003 and

set a new

5000m The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Athletics at the Summer Olympics, Olympic Games and the World Championships in At ...

record in 2004. In

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Cat ...

Alemitu Bekele and

won gold and silver medals respectively in Women's 5000 metres and

also won gold medal in Women's 10000 metres.

won first European Championship in a sprint race for Turkey by winning gold in Women's 100 metres hurdles. In

won silver in Men's 1500 metres and

won bronze in Men's 3000 metres. In 2017,

Ramil Guliyev Ramil Guliyev ( az, Ramil Eldar oğlu Quliyev; born 29 May 1990) is an Azerbaijani-born Turkish sprinter. He competes in the 100 metres and 200 metres. At the 2017 World Championships, Guliyev became the World Champion in the 200 metres ...

of Fenerbahçe won Turkey's first ever gold medal in the men's 200 metre race at the 2017 World Championships, being the second white athlete in history to achieve this feat.

Beach handball

2010 Beach Handball World Championships The 2010 Beach Handball World Championships was a twelve-team tournament in both men's and women's beach handball, held at Antalya in Turkey from 23 June 2010 to 27 June 2010. It was the fourth edition of the event. Matches were played in sets, the ...

were held between June 23–27 in Antalya. The Turkish national team won twice the silver medal at the World Championships in 2004 and 2006, and the bronze medal in 2010. The Turkish women's national team also won the silver medal at the 2004 World Championships.

Fencing

Turkey hosted the

2009 World Fencing Championships 2009 World Fencing Championships was held at the Antalya Expo Center in Antalya, Turkey. The event took place from September 30 to October 8, 2009. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table Results overview Men Foil individual ...

held from September 30 to October 8 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 ...

Fishing

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

cannot be done from any boat without a license, even if you're an amateur. You must apply to have one by submitting some I.D. cards and paying a fee 150 Turkish Lira for two years. Details concerning fishing zones, the minimum sizes of fish that can be caught, and the numbers of fish that can be caught per person can be obtained from the Department of Fisheries at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Aegean and Mediterranean seas are rich fishing areas.

Flying

Plane gliding, hang gliding, parachuting, paragliding and single engine flights are catered for as well as services that provide instruction courses. Best areas are

Fethiye Fethiye () is a city and district of Muğla Province in the Aegean Region of Turkey. It is one of the prominent tourist destinations in the Turkish Riviera. In 2019 its population was 162,686. History Fethiye was formerly known as Makri (). ...

, Eskişehir,

Pamukkale Pamukkale, meaning "cotton castle" in Turkish, is a natural site in Denizli Province in southwestern Turkey. The area is famous for a carbonate mineral left by the flowing of thermal spring water. It is located in Turkey's Inner Aegean region, i ...

, and

Motorsports

Motorsports Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

have become popular recently, especially following the inclusion of the Rally of Turkey to the FIA World Rally Championship calendar in 2003, and the inclusion of the

Turkish Grand Prix The Turkish Grand Prix ( tr, ) is a Formula One auto racing, motor race held at the Istanbul Park Circuit, designed by Hermann Tilke. The race was part of the Formula One World Championship between and , and to , the latter two being due to ...

to the

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

racing calendar in 2005. Other important annual motorsports events which are held at the

Istanbul Park Intercity Istanbul Park ( tr, İstanbul Park), also known as the Istanbul Racing Circuit or initially as the Istanbul Otodrom, is a motor sports race track in the Tuzla, Istanbul, Tuzla district of Istanbul, Turkey. It was designed by the well ...

racing circuit include the MotoGP Grand Prix of Turkey, the FIA World Touring Car Championship, the GP2 Series and the Le Mans Series. From time to time, Istanbul and

also host the Turkish leg of the

F1 Powerboat Racing The Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship (also F1) is an international motorboat racing competition for powerboats organised by the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) and promoted by H2O Racing, hence it often being referred to as F1H2O. ...

championship; while the Turkish leg of the

Red Bull Air Race World Series The World Championship Air Race is a series of Air racing, air races sanctioned by the World Air Sports Federation (FAI). Originally established in 2003 as the Red Bull Air Race, and created by Red Bull GmbH, the event involves competitors na ...

, an

air racing Air racing is a type of motorsport that involves airplanes or other types of aircraft that compete over a fixed course, with the winner either returning the shortest time, the one to complete it with the most points, or to come closest to a prev ...

competition, takes place above the Golden Horn in Istanbul. Surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding, paragliding and other extreme sports are becoming more popular every year. The

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

located at Istanbul has a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 155,000 people (biggest in Europe), is just over 5,340 m long and runs anti-clockwise. The track was designed by Hermann Tilke, designer of the

Sepang Pekan Sepang is a small border town and also a mukim in Sepang District, Selangor, Malaysia. The Sepang International Circuit in the western part of the town, where the Malaysian F1 Grand Prix was and Malaysian MotoGP Grand Prix is held. Mal ...

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

and

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

tracks. GP2 series also include a Turkish Team ( Petrol Ofisi FMS International) and a Turkish Driver, Jason Tahincioglu.

Kenan Sofuoğlu Kenan Sofuoğlu (born 25 August 1984 in Kuzuluk, Akyazı) is a Turkish parliamentarian and former professional motorcycle racer. He holds a record five Supersport World Championship titles (2007, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016). Sofuoğlu also compet ...

became world champion in Supersport three times in 2007, 2010, and 2012.

Rafting

Turkey's rivers provide perfect conditions for canoeing and rafting, for both beginners and experienced. Some of the best rivers for rafting are Çoruh,

Barhal Pal Hal ( km, ភូមិប៉ាលហាល) is a village in Sangkat Pal Hal, Krong Preah Vihear (City). Previously, it was in Pal Hal Commune of Tbaeng Meanchey District, Preah Vihear Province, Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km ...

, Berta, Fırtına, Çolaklı, Köprüçay, Manavgat,

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

Göksu (Silifke) The Göksu (Turkish for "sky water", also called ''Geuk Su'', ''Goksu Nehri''; la, Saleph, grc, Καλύκαδνος, translit=Calycadnus) is a river on the Taşeli plateau (Turkey). Both its sources arise in the Taurus Mountains—the northe ...

, Zamanti, Göksu (Feke), Kızılırmak, and Dalaman Çayı.

Rugby league

Rugby League is a relatively new sport in Turkey, so far five clubs make up the rugby league in Turkey, observer status within the Rugby League European Federation is expected within a few months.

Rugby union

Sailing and boat trips

Turkey has four bordering seas; the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

, Marmara Sea,

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...

, and

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

, so it not surprising that cruising is a popular sport. There are many cruising charters available. Gulets are traditional motor yachts and gulet holidays are becoming increasingly popular.

Taekwondo

Weightlifting

Weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift Weight training#Equipment, weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various t ...

has been another successful sport for Turkey, regularly relied upon to provide gold medals in the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. Its most famous

weightlifters 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 ...

Naim Süleymanoğlu Naim Süleymanoğlu ( bg, Наим Сюлейманоглу; 23 January 1967 – 18 November 2017) was a Bulgarian-born Turkish Olympic weightlifter. He was a seven-time World Weightlifting champion and a three-time Olympic gold medalist ...

and

Halil Mutlu Halil Mutlu (born Halil Aliev () on 14 July 1973 in Postnik, Bulgaria) is a former professional Turkish weightlifter with several World and Olympic championship titles. Mutlu is one of the five weightlifters who has achieved three consecutive ...

, are only two of four weightlifters in the world to have won three gold medals in three Olympics, and among women

Nurcan Taylan Nurcan Taylan (born 29 October 1983 in Ankara, Turkey) is a Turkish Olympic, world and European champion in weightlifting. She holds six European and one world record (and tied two more world records). She was banned by the International Weight ...

broke one world record.

Windsurfing

The bays around

Çeşme Çeşme () is a coastal town and the administrative centre of the district of the same name in Turkey's westernmost end, on a promontory on the tip of the peninsula that also carries the same name and that extends inland to form a whole with the ...

Alaçatı Alaçatı is a part of İzmir on the Western coast of Turkey, often noted for its architecture, vineyards, windmills, and sea. Alaçatı is one of the most traditional towns in Turkey, with stone houses, narrow streets, boutique hotels and resta ...

Bodrum Bodrum () is a port city in Muğla Province, southwestern Turkey, at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Its population was 35,795 at the 2012 census, with a total of 136,317 inhabitants residing within the district's borders. Known in ancient t ...

, and Datça peninsulas as well as Antalya have ideal wind conditions for windsurfing. Famous windsurfer

Çağla Kubat Çağla Kubat (; born 16 November 1978) is a Turkish actress, model, windsurfer and beauty pageant titleholder. She is member of Fenerbahçe sailing & windsurfing team. She is 5 feet 10 (1.80m) tall. She was born in İzmir. She graduated from ...

Football

Basketball

Volleyball

Handball

Athletics

Beach handball

Fencing

Fishing

Flying

Motorsports

Rafting

Rugby league

Rugby union

Sailing and boat trips

Taekwondo

Weightlifting

Windsurfing

Wrestling

See also

References

External links