Ekrem Boyalı (born 15 July 1970) is an Olympian Turkish former

Taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

practitioner and coach.

Early years and family life

Ekrem Boyalı was born on 15 July 1970 in

Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

, Turkey. In 1998, Boyalı went to the United States to complete his university education. Upon returning home after three years, he was appointed a lecturer at

Selçuk University Selçuk University () is a public university, state-owned higher educational institution which was founded 1975 in Konya, Turkey. It is one of the largest universities in Turkey with a student body of 63,000 of which 2,200 are foreign students f ...

. In 2009, he earned a

PhD degree A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

Exercise physiology Exercise physiology is the physiology of physical exercise. It is one of the allied health professions, and involves the study of the acute responses and chronic adaptations to exercise. Exercise physiologists are the highest qualified exercise ...

from the Institute of Health Science at

with a thesis on "The effect of

vitamin E Vitamin E is a group of eight compounds related in molecular structure that includes four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. The tocopherols function as fat-soluble antioxidants which may help protect cell membranes from reactive oxygen speci ...

application on the levels of

lipid peroxidation Lipid peroxidation, or lipid oxidation, is a complex chemical process that leads to oxidative degradation of lipids, resulting in the formation of peroxide and hydroperoxide derivatives.{{Cite journal , last1=Ayala , first1=Antonio , last2=Muñoz ...

, antioxidant enzymes and lactate during acute Taekwondo exercise". He is married with

Ayşegül Ergin Ayşegül Ergin Boyalı (born Ayşegül Ergin in 1971) is a former Olympian Turkish female Taekwondo practitioner. At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, she competed for Turkey, and became the runner-up after losing to Tung Ya-Ling ...

, also a world and European championship medalist.

Sports career

He began with Taekwondo following the footsteps of his older brother Osman Boyalı in 1983. After four years of hard training at his brother's sports club, he was admitted to the national team. Later, he became captain of the Turkey team. At the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain, he competed for

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, and became the runner-up after losing to Kim Byong-Cheol from South Korea in the final game. The Taekwondo competitions were held as demonstration sport, and therefore no medals were awarded. Boyalı served as coach of the Turkey national team after leaving the active sport. Later, he coached the Bulgaria national team.

Achievements

* 1988 European Championships –

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 −54 kg (youth) * 1990 European Championships –

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

, Denmark −54 kg * 1991 World Cup –

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, Croatia −58 kg * 1991 World Championships –

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, Greece −58 kg * 1992 European Championships –

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, Spain −64 kg * 1992 Pre-Olympian Games –

, Spain −64 kg * 1994 World Cup –

George Town, Cayman Islands George Town is the capital and largest city in the Cayman Islands, located on Grand Cayman. It was named after King George III. , the city had a population of 40,957, making it the largest city (by population) of all the British Overseas Territ ...

, United Kingdom −64 kg * 1996 European Championships –

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, Finland −64 kg * 1997 World Championships –

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, British Hong Kong −64 kg

References

1970 births Sportspeople from Konya Turkish male taekwondo practitioners Turkish martial artists Olympic taekwondo practitioners for Turkey Taekwondo practitioners at the 1992 Summer Olympics Turkish sports coaches Selçuk University alumni Academic staff of Selçuk University Living people European Taekwondo Championships medalists World Taekwondo Championships medalists 21st-century Turkish sportsmen {{Turkey-taekwondo-bio-stub