Tutya Yılmaz (born 4 June 1999 in Istanbul) is a Turkish female

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

who represented Turkey at the 2014 Youth Olympics and the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

. In 2016, she was named Turkish Female Athlete of the Year.

Early life

Yılmaz was born in Bakırköy, Istanbul, Turkey in 1999, and started gymnastics at age 4. She attended Ekrem Elginkan High School in Istanbul.

Career

Junior

2013

In June, Yılmaz competed at the Olympic Hopes meet in Penza, Russia, where she placed fourth in the all-around, fifth on bars and floor, and won the bronze medal on beam. In July, she competed at the

2013 European Youth Olympic Festival 2013 European Youth Olympic Festival may refer to: *2013 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival *2013 European Youth Winter Olympic Festival The 2013 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival was an international multi-sport event held between 17 a ...

, finishing 24th in the all-around and 12th with the Turkish team.

2014

Yılmaz competed at the 2014 Junior European Championships in Sofia. She did not make any finals, but her performance in qualifications earned her a spot at the Youth Olympic Games. At the Youth Olympic Games, Yılmaz qualified to the all-around final, where she finished 10th. She also placed eighth in the vault and floor exercise finals. Later that year, Yılmaz competed at the Mediterranean Junior Championships in Italy, where she placed fourth in the all-around and on vault, fifth on the uneven bars and won the gold medal on the balance beam.

Senior

2015

Yılmaz made her senior debut at the Cottbus World Cup in Germany, placing seventh in the floor final. In April, Yılmaz competed at the 2015 European Championships and placed 49th all-around during qualifications. At the Varna World Cup, she placed ninth on vault, fifth on beam and sixth on floor. Yılmaz represented Turkey at the

2015 European Games The 2015 European Games, also known as Baku 2015 or Baku 2015 European Games ( az, Bakı 2015 Avropa Oyunları), were the inaugural edition of the European Games, an international multi-sport event for athletes representing the National Olympic ...

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

and finished 13th in the all-around final. She competed at the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow but did not make any finals.

2016

At the 2016 Turkish Championships, Yılmaz won the gold medal in the all-around as well as on vault and beam, and took the silver on bars and the bronze on floor. Yılmaz placed 53rd at the Olympic Test Event, and qualified to the

as an individual, becoming the second Turkish gymnast to qualify to the Olympic Games after

Göksu Üçtaş Şanlı Göksu Üçtaş Şanlı (; born August 30, 1990, in Şahinbey, Gaziantep Province, Turkey) is a retired Turkish artistic gymnast. She was the first Turkish female artistic gymnast to compete at the Olympic Games, doing so at the 2012 Olympic Ga ...

. She followed that up with a sixth place finish on beam at the Varna World Cup. In June, she competed 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, ...

, but did not make the event finals. At the Mersin World Cup in July, she won the balance beam gold in front of a home crowd, and placed fourth on floor and fifth on the uneven bars. During qualifications at 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 ...

, Yılmaz placed 42nd all-around and scored an outstanding 14.500 on the balance beam, making her the third reserve for the balance beam final.

2017

Yılmaz competed at the 2017 World Championships in Montreal but was limited to the uneven bars due to a knee injury, and did not make the event finals.

2018

Yılmaz returned to competition at the Koper World Cup, finishing eighth in the floor final. At the

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fir ...

, Yılmaz helped the Turkish team finish fifth in the team final, and placed 10th in the all-around and sixth on the uneven bars individually. At the Mersin World Cup, Yılmaz won three silver medals in front of a home crowd: one on the uneven bars, one on the balance beam and one on floor. She competed at the

2018 European Championships The 2018 European Championships were the first edition of the European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Berlin, Germany, and Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom (with Edinburgh hosting the diving events and Gleneagles ...

, but did not make the finals. In September, she competed at the Szombathely World Cup and qualified to the floor final. However, she struggled in the final, and placed eighth. Yılmaz was part of the Turkish team competing at the 2018 World Championships in Doha, and placed 60th all-around in qualifications, missing out on the finals.

2019

In March, Yılmaz competed at the Turkish Championships, winning the silver medal in the all-around, and taking the bronze in both the uneven bars and balance beam finals. Later that month, she competed at the Baku World Cup and the Doha World Cup, but she did not make any finals. At the Mersin World Cup, Yılmaz won a silver medal on the floor exercise and placed fifth in the balance beam final. Yılmaz competed at the 2019 World Championships in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, but failed to qualify to the 2020 Summer Olympics

Retirement

Yılmaz announced her retirement on 15 October 2019, shortly after the 2019 World Championships. On 13 June 2020, Yılmaz uploaded a video to YouTube, in which she revealed that she was subjected to mobbing and psychological abuse by her managers, which contributed to her decision to retire from gymnastics.

Competitive history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yilmaz, Tutya 1999 births Living people Sportspeople from Istanbul Turkish female artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics European Games competitors for Turkey Gymnasts at the 2015 European Games Gymnasts at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts of Turkey Competitors at the 2018 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games competitors for Turkey 21st-century Turkish women