İrem Karamete (born June 20, 1993) is a Turkish fencer competing in the

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ...

event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She is the first Turkish fencer to qualify for the Olympics since 1984.

Early life

Karamete was born into a fencing family in

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 ...

, Turkey on June 20, 1993. Her father Mehmet Karamete coached the Israeli and German national fencing teams, as well as his spouse Nili Drori. İrem's mother Nili competed in the women's individual

events for

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

at the

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

and

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

. Her older sister Merve also competed in fencing, and was a member of the national team. Karamete completed her bachelor's degree in industrial engineering with an athletic scholarship at Ozyegin University, Istanbul. She was the captain of her university's fencing team where she also won four individual titles in a row. In 2019, she completed her master's degree in global marketing management at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

, USA.

Sports career

Karamete started fencing at the age of 10. In only five years she reached the national team representing Turkey in international competitions. In those years, she also won the " Turkish Champion " title in the cadet & junior categories several times. She competed in many European and World Cadet & Junior championships, reaching the top 16 at the 2009 tournament in Bourges, France. Karamete won a bronze medal at the Cadet & Junior Mediterranean Championships the same year. Karamete won the Turkish Championship 10 times between 2011 and 2019. In 2012, Karamete took the gold medal at the Mediterranean Junior and Cadet Fencing Championship held in

Poreč Poreč (; it, Parenzo; la, Parens or ; grc, Πάρενθος, Párenthos) is a town and municipality on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, in Istria County, west Croatia. Its major landmark is the 6th-century Euphrasian Basilica, wh ...

, Croatia after the Turkish women's fencing team defeated France in the final. In the same season, Karamete finished in the top 16 at both Junior World Cups in Budapest and Belgrade. Karamete took the bronze medal at the

2013 Mediterranean Games The 2013 Mediterranean Games ( tr, 2013 Akdeniz Oyunları), officially known as the XVII Mediterranean Games ( tr, XVII Akdeniz Oyunları) and commonly known as Mersin 2013, was an international multi-sport event held from 20 to 30 June 2013 i ...

in Mersin, Turkey. She was the first Turkish woman to obtain a medal in fencing for her country in 42 years. Olympic qalification

In the 2014–2015 season, Karamete took a silver medal in

Cancún Cancún ( ), often Cancun in English (without the accent; or ) is a city in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, a gold medal in

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, Turkey, a bronze medal both in Kocaeli, Turkey and

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark at the

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events. She represented her country at the 2015 European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan. Karamete was the silver medalist at the 2015 Balkan Championships in

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, while ...

, Serbia. Karamete qualified for participation at the

2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

after a successful showing at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification tournament held in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, Czech Republic. In doing so, she became the first Turkish fencer to compete at the Olympics since the 1984 competition. In May 2018, Karamete won the bronze medal representing her country at the Satellite Cup Bucharest. At the end of the season, she finished in the Top 16 at the Senior European Championship in Novi Sad, Serbia, and Top 32 at the Senior World Championships in Wuxi, China. In the 2019–2020 season, the road to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Karamete obtained the following results representing Turkey: a gold medal in Antalya, bronze medals at the senior satellite tournament events in Bucharest and Amsterdam, and Top 32 at the Turin Grand Prix. These finishes gave her important points for Olympic qualification goals. She competed at the 2022 European Fencing Championships held in Antalya, Turkey. She won one of the bronze medals in the women's individual foil event at the 2022 Mediterranean Games held in Oran, Algeria.

Personal life

On July 29, 2020, Karamete married her coach, Italian Olympic fencer

Andrea Baldini Andrea Baldini (born 19 December 1985) is an Italian foil fencer, several time European and World champion and team Olympic champion in 2012. He is the only foil fencer in history to have obtained four golds (European and World - individual and ...

, in Istanbul.

References

External links

Fiche FIE
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Karamete, Irem 1993 births Sportspeople from Istanbul Turkish female foil fencers Özyeğin University alumni Boston University Living people Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers of Turkey Competitors at the 2018 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 2022 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Turkey Mediterranean Games medalists in fencing European Games competitors for Turkey Fencers at the 2015 European Games Turkish people of Israeli descent Fencers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Islamic Solidarity Games medalists in fencing Islamic Solidarity Games competitors for Turkey 21st-century Turkish women