Ümit Şamiloğlu (born 29 September 1980) is a retired Turkish
artistic gymnast
Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the '' Code of Points'' used ...
. He competed in the horizontal bar event and has won numerous gold medals in international competition. He is said to be the "oldest gymnast" at competitions in which he takes part. He is the creator of a special grip registered by the
International Gymnastics Federation
The International Gymnastics Federation ( French: ''Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique'', abbr. FIG) is the body governing competition in all disciplines of gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on 23 ...
Doğubayazıt
Doğubayazıt (; or , ) is a town of Ağrı Province of Turkey, near the Iran–Turkey border, border with Iran. Its elevation is 1625 m. It is the seat of Doğubayazıt District.
History
For most of the periods described here, Doğubay ...
,
Ağrı
Ağrı (; ) is a city in eastern Turkey, near the border with Iran. It is the seat of Ağrı Province and Ağrı District.
, eastern Turkey, on 29 September 1980. He has a two years older sister. In 2008, he married Ceren, with whom he has a son, Alkin. His second marriage was to his long-time girlfriend Sevil Topuz; he proposed to her during the medal ceremony at the 2016 Mersin World Challenge Cup. Şamiloğlu worked as a teacher of physical education at a middle School in Bolu before he was appointed to a school in Ankara.
Early years in gymnastics
Şamiloğlu began with
artistic gymnastics
Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), ...
at a young age, motivated by his schoolteacher father, who himself was untalented but tenacious in physical education lessons during this early school years. The family moved from their hometown of Ağrı to
Manisa
Manisa () is a city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province, lying approximately 40 km northeast of the major city of İzmir. The city forms the urban part of the districts Şehzadeler and Yunusemre, with ...
, where his father was appointed. His father encouraged him to start with gymnastics and introduced him to Hasan Onmuş at Dokuz Eylul University at Manisa. Following a physical examination, Onmuş recommended Ümit to go to
Bolu
Bolu is a city in northern Turkey, and administrative center of the Bolu Province and of Bolu District, At that time, Bolu was considered the center of gymnastics in Turkey, as the world's best Soviet trainers had emigrated there following the
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...
.
At age 10, Şamiloğlu moved to Bolu far from his family, and was admitted to a training camp. He was inspired by Turkish gymnast Murat Canbaş. He first trained with Turkish coach Dilaver Abdiloğlu and later with Bulgarian coach Jivko Dobrev, whom he credits with shaping his basic techniques. Şamiloğlu moved to
Ankara
Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
to study physical education at
Gazi University
Gazi University () is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Ankara, Turkey.
It was founded in 1926 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk originally as the Gazi Education Institute (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Gazi Eğitim Ens ...
after Dobrev left Bolu to return to his home. A year later, when Dobrev returned to Turkey, Şamiloğlu suspended his university studies and also returned to Bolu.
Professional career
In 2001, Şamiloğlu won his first international medal, a silver, in the vault event at the 2001 Mediterranean Games in
Tunis
Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...
, Tunisia. Upon his return from Tunisia, he realized that his coach had left Turkey again, and followed him to Bulgaria at his own expense to continue training with him. The Turkish Gymnastics Federation later sent him to Romania for a short time for exercise.
Şamiloğlu sustained an ulnar collateral ligament injury of the elbow at the
2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 40th World Gymnastics Championships#Artistic, World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, Germany, from 1 to 9 September 2007.
Medal summary
Men's results Qualification
Oldest and ...
, which was a qualification competition for the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...
Lausanne
Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, Japan, Şamiloğlu lost the chance to participate in the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
.
Şamiloğlu returned to active sport by March 2013 at the age of 33, placing fourth at the Turnier der Meister in
Cottbus
Cottbus () or (;) is a university city and the second-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after the state capital, Potsdam. With around 100,000 inhabitants, Cottbus is the most populous city in Lusatia. Cottbus lies in the Sorbian ...
, Germany., He won his first gold medal at the
2013 Mediterranean Games
The 2013 Mediterranean Games (), officially known as the XVII Mediterranean Games () and commonly known as Mersin 2013, was an international multi-sport event held from 20 to 30 June 2013 in Mersin, Turkey. Mersin was announced as the host cit ...
held in
Mersin
Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...
, Turkey. This also represented Turkey's first gold medal in gymnastics. The Slovenian world and European champion gymnast
Aljaž Pegan
Aljaž Pegan (born 2 June 1974) is a Slovenian former artistic gymnast. He was primarily a horizontal bar specialist and won gold at the 2005 World Championships. He is also a three-time World silver medalist (2002, 2006, 2007) and the 2004 Eu ...
Ljubljana
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, official_name =
, settlement_type = Capital city
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, Slovenia,
Osijek
Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...
Mersin
Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...
, Turkey. He won the silver medal at the
2018 Mediterranean Games
The 2018 Mediterranean Games (, ), officially known as the XVIII Mediterranean Games (, ) and commonly known as Tarragona 2018, was an international multi-sport event held from 22 June to 1 July 2018 in Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. Tarragona was ...
in
Tarragona
Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...
Koper
Koper (; ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, fifth-largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Slovenian Istria, Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, Koper is the main urban center of the Slovene coast. Port of Koper i ...
, Slovenia.
Şamiloğlu transferred from Bolu Gençlik Merkezi S.K. to Ankara EGO S.K. by December 2019. He captains the Turkey national team. In 2020, he took the silver medal in the team event at the European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Mersin. Şamiloğlu is attributed as the "oldest gymnast" at the competitions in which he participates.
In late 2021 Şamiloğlu announced his retirement from the sport.
The "Şamiloğlu" grip
Together with his coach, Şamiloğlu developed a special grip which could be used by high-level competitors in artistic gymnastics. His aim was to be remembered after he retired from active sport. Şamiloğlu executed this grip for the first time at the 2013 Mediterranean Games in Mersin, Turkey, where he won the gold medal. He used this grip again at subsequent competitions. In 2019, his grip was registered by the
International Gymnastics Federation
The International Gymnastics Federation ( French: ''Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique'', abbr. FIG) is the body governing competition in all disciplines of gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on 23 ...