Buğra Ünal (born 8 May 1997) is a Turkish Olympian

modern pentathlete The modern pentathlon is an Olympic multisport that consists of five events: fencing (one-touch épée followed by direct elimination), freestyle swimming, obstacle course racing, laser pistol shooting, and cross country running. The sport wa ...

Sport career

Ünal used to perform running and swimming in his childhood with the encouragement of his father. He later attracted the attention of his trainer, who advised him to perform modern pentathlon. He is tall at .

2022

He took the bronze medal in the Mixed team relay event with teammate

İlke Özyüksel İlke Özyüksel Mihrioğlu (born 26 February 1997) is a Turkish Olympian modern pentathlete. She won the bronze medal in the women's individual event at the 2022 World Modern Pentathlon Championships held in Alexandria, Egypt. Private life İ ...

at the 2022 World Championships held in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

, Egypt. In December 2022, he fell off a horse during a training session, and broke his

collarbone The clavicle, collarbone, or keybone is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on each side of the body. The clavicle is the ...

. He had to stay away about two months from the field.

2023

He and his teammate İlke Özyüksel placed fourth in the Mixed team relay event at the

2023 European Games The 3rd European Games (), also known as the 2023 European Games or Kraków-Małopolska 2023, was an international multi-sport event held from 21 June to 2 July 2023 in Kraków and Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Małopolska, Poland. It was the first ...

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, Poland. In the Individual event, he failed to advance to the final after his 14th place in the semi-finals category A. At the 2023 n World Cup 's second stage in

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 ( ...

, Turkey, he and his teammate İlke Özyüksel won the goldr medal in the Mixed team relay event. Ünal captured the gold medal at the 2023 UIPM Pentathlon Challenger Kyrgyzstan in

Bishkek Bishkek, formerly known as Pishpek (until 1926), and then Frunze (1926–1991), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. Bishkek is situated near the Kazakhstan ...

. During the preparations for the 2024 Olympics, he fell off the horse once again in December 2023. He broke this time his other collarbone, and underwent a surgery. He returned to the field one month later. Soon, he had another surgery due to a

hernia A hernia (: hernias or herniae, from Latin, meaning 'rupture') is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ (anatomy), organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. The term is also used for the normal Devel ...

in his spine caused by falling off a horse. He could resume training end February 2024.

2024

He received a quota to represent his country at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France. He is the first Turkish male pentathlete to participate at the Olympics. At the 2024 Olympic Games, he completed the épée fencing event with 225 points, the

show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows ar ...

with 283 points, the 200m

freestyle swimming Freestyle is a category of Swimming (sport), swimming competition, defined by the rules of World Aquatics, in which competitors are subject to only a few limited restrictions on their swimming stroke. Freestyle races are the most common of all ...

with 296 points, the 3.2km cross-country run and

pistol shooting Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airguns, in forms such ...

events with 677 points. He scored 1,481 points in total, and ranked 13th.

Personal life

Buğra Ünal was born on 8 May 1997. He studied Sport coaching in the Faculty of Sport Science 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 ...

, and graduated in 2019. He is married to Büşra Karabulut Ünal from

Milas Milas is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Muğla Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,067 km2, and its population is 147,416 (2022). The city commands a region with an active economy and is very rich in history and ancient rema ...

Muğla Province Muğla Province (, ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey, at the country's southwestern corner, on the Aegean Sea. Its area is 12,654 km2, and its population is 1 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unal, Bugra 1997 births Living people Gazi University alumni Turkish male modern pentathletes 21st-century Turkish sportsmen European Games competitors for Turkey Modern pentathletes at the 2023 European Games Olympic modern pentathletes for Turkey Modern pentathletes at the 2024 Summer Olympics