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

competed at the

2016 Summer 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 ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Since the nation's debut in 1908, Turkish athletes have appeared in every edition of the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

, except for three occasions. Turkey failed to register any athletes at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

in Antwerp, did not attend the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

in Los Angeles at the period of worldwide Great Depression, and also joined the United States-led boycott, when Moscow hosted the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

. The Turkish team consisted of 103 athletes, 55 men and 48 women, across twenty-one sports. Turkey returned home from Rio de Janeiro with eight medals (one gold, three silver, and four bronze), a vast improvement on the nation's overall medal count from the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Five of these medals were awarded to the wrestlers, including a sole golden glory from double world champion

Taha Akgül Taha Akgül (born 22 November 1990 in Sivas, Turkey) is an Olympic, World, and European champion Turkish freestyle wrestler competing in the 125 kg division. He is a 3 time world (2014, 2015, 2022) and 10 time European (2012-2015, 2017-2019, ...

in the men's super heavyweight freestyle (125 kg), and a runner-up feat from reigning world and multiple-time European champion

Rıza Kayaalp Rıza Kayaalp (; born 10 October 1989) is a Turkish wrestler competing in the 130 kg division of Greco-Roman wrestling. 5 times world (2011,2015,2017,2019,2022) and 11 times European champions (2010,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2 ...

in the Greco-Roman side, despite his failed attempt to avert a historic golden "three-peat" set forth by his Cuban rival Mijaín López. Apart from the wrestlers, three Turkish athletes collected the rest of the country's medals in their respective individual sports. Among them were Cuban-born track sprinter

Yasmani Copello Yasmani Copello Escobar (born 15 April 1987) is a Cuban-born track and field hurdler who represents Turkey internationally. His personal best for the 400 metres hurdles is 47.81 seconds, set in the final of the 2018 European Athletics Championsh ...

in the men's 400 m hurdles, taekwondo fighter

Nur Tatar Nur Tatar Askari (born August 16, 1992 in Van, Turkey) is a world and European champion Turkish female taekwondo practitioner competing in the feather, light and welterweight divisions. She is of Kurdish descent. She was a member of the TSE Spo ...

in the women's welterweight division (67 kg), and Turkmen-born weightlifter

Daniyar İsmayilov Daniyar Ismayilov (born 3 February 1992) is a Turkmen weightlifter currently competing for Turkey. He competed for Turkmenistan at the 2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also kno ...

, who ended the country's momentary medal drought in his signature sport with a scintillating silver in the men's 69 kg category.

Medalists

, width=78% align=left valign=top , , width=22% align=left valign=top ,

Competitors

The

Turkish Olympic Committee Turkish National Olympic Committee (TNOC) ( tr, Türkiye Milli Olimpiyat Komitesi (TMOK)) is the governing Olympic body of Turkey. It is based in Istanbul. History As one of the oldest National Olympic Committees in the world, TNOC was founded o ...

( tr, Türkiye Milli Olimpiyat Komitesi, TMOK) fielded a roster of 103 athletes, 55 men and 48 women, to compete across twenty-one different sports at these Games; it was the nation's second-largest delegation sent to the Olympics, relatively smaller by eleven athletes than in London four years earlier.

Women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...

was the only collective sport in which Turkey qualified for the Games, having returned to the Olympic scene for the second straight time. These Games also witnessed several Turkish athletes compete for the first time in the women's modern pentathlon, as well as in equestrian jumping (1960) and fencing (1984) after long years of absence. Track and field accounted for the most number of athletes on the Turkish team by an individual-based sport, with 31 entries (20 men and 11 women). There was only a single competitor each in badminton, sprint kayaking, equestrian jumping, fencing, modern pentathlon, and tennis. The Turkish roster featured all three medalists returning from

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

, namely taekwondo fighters

(women's 67 kg) and defending titleholder

Servet Tazegül Servet Tazegül ( (born 26 September 1988) is a world, Olympic and European champion Turkish taekwondo practitioner of Azerbaijani origin competing in the featherweight division. He competed in the men's 68 kg class at the 2008 Summer Olymp ...

(men's 68 kg), and Greco-Roman wrestler

, who entered his third straight Games as the reigning world champion, a multiple-time European champion, and a top medal favorite in the super heavyweight category. Because of his sporting successes, Kayaalp was nominated by TMOK to become the country's flag bearer in the opening ceremony. Nearly a quarter of the Turkish athletes representing at these Games were born in the overseas, with several of them coming from Africa and former Soviet nations. Among the foreign-born athletes were track sprinters Jak Ali Harvey (Jamaica) and

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 ...

(Azerbaijan), track hurdler

(Cuba), breaststroke swimmer and four-time world junior champion Zeynep Güneş (Ukraine), three-time Olympians Melek Hu (table tennis player, China) and

Karin Melis Mey Karin Melis Mey, née Karin Mey, (born 31 May 1983) is a South African-born Turkish female long jumper. She became a naturalised Turkish citizen in June 2008, and took the name Melis in addition to her birth name Karin Mey. The tall athlete ...

(long jumper, South Africa), and world-ranked weightlifter

(Turkmenistan). Other notable athletes on the Turkish squad included sailing brothers Ateş and Deniz Çınar in the men's 470 class, double world champion and top medal favorite

in the men's super heavyweight freestyle (125 kg), and hammer thrower and 2004 bronze medalist Eşref Apak, who headed the roster as the lone competitor going to his fourth straight Olympics. Seventeen-year-old gymnast Tutya Yılmaz was Turkey's youngest athlete of the Games, with pistol shooter and three-time Olympian Yusuf Dikeç rounding out the field as the oldest competitor (aged 43). , width=78% align=left valign=top ,

Archery

One Turkish archer has qualified each for the men's and women's individual recurve at the Olympics by securing one of three available Olympic spots at the 2016 European Championships in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

Athletics

Turkish athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event): ;Track & road events ;Men ;Women ;Field events

Badminton

Turkey has qualified one badminton player for the women's singles into the Olympic tournament.

Özge Bayrak Özge Bayrak (born 14 February 1992) is a Turkish badminton player. She is coached by Çağatay Taşdemir at Egospor club of Ankara Metropolis Municipality. Currently, she is studying at Aksaray University. She competed at various international t ...

had claimed her Olympic spot as one of top 34 individual shuttlers in the BWF World Rankings as of 5 May 2016.

Basketball

Women's tournament

Turkey women's basketball team qualified for the Olympics with a quarterfinal victory at the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

, France. ;Team roster ;Group play ---- ---- ---- ---- ;Quarter-final

Boxing

Turkey has entered five boxers to compete in the following weight classes into the Olympic boxing tournament. Onur Şipal became the first Turkish boxer to be selected to the Olympic team with a top two finish of his respective weight division in the AIBA Pro Boxing series. Meanwhile, three further boxers (Gozgec, Ünal, and Demirezen) had claimed their Olympic spots with box-off victories at the 2016 European Qualification Tournament in

Samsun Samsun, historically known as Sampsounta ( gr, Σαμψούντα) and Amisos (Ancient Greek: Αμισός), is a city on the north coast of Turkey and is a major Black Sea port. In 2021, Samsun recorded a population of 710,000 people. The cit ...

. London 2012 Olympian Selçuk Eker secured an additional Olympic place on the Turkish roster at the 2016 AIBA World Qualifying Tournament in

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 an ...

, Azerbaijan, while Şipal's younger brother Önder completed the boxing lineup with his box-off triumph at the

2016 APB and WSB Olympic Qualifier The 2016 APB and WSB Olympic Qualifier for the boxing tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was held between July 3 and July 8, 2016 in Vargas, Venezuela. Medal table Qualified boxers Boxer quali ...

in Vargas, Venezuela.

Canoeing

Sprint

Turkish canoeists have qualified one boat in each of the following events through the

2015 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The 2015 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, the 41st edition of the World Championships, were held from 19–23 August 2015 in Milan, Italy. Explanation of events Canoe sprint competitions are broken up into Canadian canoe (C), an open canoe w ...

. Qualification Legend: FA = Qualify to final (medal); FB = Qualify to final B (non-medal)

Cycling

Road

Turkish riders qualified for a maximum of two quota places in the men's Olympic road race by virtue of their top 15 final national ranking in the

2015 UCI Europe Tour The 2015 UCI Europe Tour was the eleventh season of the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling arou ...

Equestrian

Turkey has entered one jumping rider into the Olympic equestrian competition by virtue of a top national finish from Central & Eastern Europe in the individual FEI Olympic Rankings. This signified the nation's Olympic return to the sport for the first time since

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

Jumping

Fencing

Turkey has entered one fencer into the Olympic competition, signifying the nation's sporting comeback for the first time since

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

. İrem Karamete had claimed her Olympic spot in the women's foil by finishing among the top four individuals at the European Zonal Qualifier in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Gymnastics

Artistic

Turkey has entered two artistic gymnasts into the Olympic competition. Ferhat Arican and Tutya Yılmaz had claimed their Olympic spots each in the men's and women's apparatus and all-around events, respectively, at the Olympic Test Event in

. ;Men ;Women

Judo

Turkey has qualified a total of four judokas for the following weight classes at the Games. London 2012 Olympian

Bekir Özlü Bekir Özlü (born Betkili Shukvani, ka, ბეთქილ შუკვანი, on 30 August 1988 in Mestia, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, Georgia) is an Olympian Georgian-born Turkish judoka competing in the 60 kg division. The tall sport ...

(previously competed for Georgia), Dilara Lokmanhekim, and Kayra Sayit were ranked among the top 22 eligible judokas for men and top 14 for women in the IJF World Ranking List of May 30, 2016, while

Büşra Katipoğlu Büşra Katipoğlu (born January 17, 1992) is a Turkish judoka competing in the -63 kg division. She is a member of İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi S.K. She is a student of Bülent Ecevit University in Zonguldak. She has qualified for ...

at women's half-middleweight (63 kg) earned a continental quota spot from the European region, as the highest-ranked Turkish judoka outside of direct qualifying position.

Modern pentathlon

Turkey has received an invitation from UIPM to send İlke Özyüksel in the women's modern pentathlon to the Olympics for the first time, as one of the next highest-ranked individuals, not yet qualified, in the World Rankings as of June 1, 2016.

Rowing

Turkey has qualified one boat in the men's lightweight double sculls for the Olympics by virtue of a top two finish at the 2016 European & Final Qualification Regatta in

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label= Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital o ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage

Sailing

Turkish sailors have qualified one boat in each of the following classes through the individual fleet World Championships, and European qualifying regattas. London 2012 Olympians Alican Kaynar,

Nazlı Çağla Dönertaş Nazlı Çağla Dönertaş (born March 1, 1991, in İstanbul, Turkey) is a Turkish yacht racer. The tall athlete at is a student of architecture at the Okan University in Istanbul. She began with sailing sport 2004 in Marmaris Yacht Club and ...

, and brothers Ateş Çınar and Deniz Çınar were selected to the Olympic roster under the qualifying merit. Windsurfers Dilara Uralp and Onur Cavit Biriz were added to Turkey's sailing lineup for the Games on June 24, 2016, after the nation received spare Olympic berths freed up by New Zealand and Canada, respectively, from the

International Sailing Federation International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

. M = Medal race; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race

Shooting

Turkish shooters have achieved quota places for the following events by virtue of their best finishes at the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

and 2015 ISSF World Championships, the 2015 ISSF World Cup series, and European Championships or Games, as long as they obtained a minimum qualifying score (MQS) by March 31, 2016. Qualification Legend: Q = Qualify for the next round; q = Qualify for the bronze medal (shotgun)

Swimming

Turkish swimmers have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT), and potentially 1 at the Olympic Selection Time (OST)):

Table tennis

Turkey has entered one athlete into the table tennis competition at the Games. Two-time Olympian Melek Hu secured one of ten available Olympic spots in the women's singles by winning the group final match at the European Qualification Tournament in

Halmstad Halmstad () is a port, university, industrial and recreational city at the mouth of the Nissan river, in the province of Halland on the Swedish west coast. Halmstad is the seat of Halmstad Municipality and the capital of Halland County. The ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

. Meanwhile, Ahmet Li was automatically selected among the top 22 eligible players in the men's singles based on the ITTF Olympic Rankings.

Taekwondo

Turkey entered two athletes into the taekwondo competition at the Olympics. 2012 Olympic featherweight champion

and silver medalist

qualified automatically for their respective weight classes by finishing in the top 6 WTF Olympic rankings.

Tennis

Turkey has entered one tennis player into the Olympic tournament. Due to the withdrawal of several tennis players from the Games, Çağla Büyükakçay (world no. 77) received a spare ITF Olympic place to compete in the women's singles, as the next highest-ranked eligible player, not yet qualified, in the WTA World Rankings as of June 6, 2016.

Weightlifting

Turkish weightlifters have qualified three women's quota places for the Rio Olympics based on their combined team standing by points at the

and 2015 IWF World Championships. A single men's Olympic spot had been added to the Turkish roster by virtue of a top seven national finish at the 2016 European Championships. The team must allocate these places to individual athletes by June 20, 2016.

Wrestling

Turkey has qualified a total of fourteen wrestlers for each of the following weight classes into the Olympic competition. Four of them finished among the top six to book Olympic spots in the men's freestyle (86 & 125 kg), men's Greco-Roman 130 kg, and women's freestyle 58 kg at the 2015 World Championships, while three additional licenses were awarded to Turkish wrestlers, who progressed to the top two finals at the 2016 European Qualification Tournament. The remaining half of the Turkish roster secured their Olympic places to complete the wrestling line-up in separate World Qualification Tournaments; three of them at the

initial In a written or published work, an initial capital, also referred to as a drop capital or simply an initial cap, initial, initcapital, initcap or init or a drop cap or drop, is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter, or a paragraph tha ...

meet in

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar (; mn, Улаанбаатар, , "Red Hero"), previously anglicized as Ulan Bator, is the capital and most populous city of Mongolia. It is the coldest capital city in the world, on average. The municipality is located in north ce ...

and four more at the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

meet 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 ...

References

External links

* {{Country at games navbox, Turkey, Olympics

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 vari ...

Nations at the 2016 Summer Olympics

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 of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Medalists

Competitors

Archery

Athletics

Badminton

Basketball

Women's tournament

Boxing

Canoeing

Sprint

Cycling

Road

Equestrian

Jumping

Fencing

Gymnastics

Artistic

Judo

Modern pentathlon

Rowing

Sailing

Shooting

Swimming

Table tennis

Taekwondo

Tennis

Weightlifting

Wrestling

See also

References

External links