Merve Dinçel Kavurat (born Marve Dinçel; on 22 October 1999), also known as Merve Kavurat, is a Turkish

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 ...

athlete. She won the gold medal in the women's flyweight event at the

2023 World Taekwondo Championships The 2023 World Taekwondo Championships was the 26th edition of the World Taekwondo Championships and was held in Baku, Azerbaijan from 29 May to 4 June, 2023. This was the first time that Azerbaijan held the event. Competition schedule All time ...

Sport career

Merve Dinçel has won a gold medal at the World Taekwondo Women's Open Championships held in Saudi Arabia's capital

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

in 2021. She won the gold medal in the women's 49 kg event at the

2022 European Championships The 2022 European Championships were the second edition of the European Championships (multi-sport event), European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Munich, Germany from 11 to 21 August 2022. The event started three d ...

held in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, United Kingdom. She won the gold medal in the women's 49 kg event at the

2022 Mediterranean Games The 2022 Mediterranean Games (), officially known as the XIX Mediterranean Games and commonly known as Oran 2022, was an international multi-sport event held from 25 June to 6 July 2022 in Oran, Algeria. Oran was announced as the host city at th ...

held in Orran, Algeria. Dinçel, in the women's 49 kg category at the

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, Azerbaijan, defeated Elizaveta Ryadninskaya, a Russian athlete competing as an individual athlete, in the second round and advanced to the third round after passing the first round without a match. She defeated Dunya Abutaleb from

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

in the third round, then defeated Botakoz Kapanova from

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

in the quarterfinals and reached the semifinals. In the 49 kg final, she won against the reigning Olympic champion

Panipak Wongpattanakit Panipak "Tennis" Wongpattanakit (; ; born 8 August 1997) is a retired Thai taekwondo athlete. A two-time Olympic champion, she is currently the top-ranked athlete in the women's 49 kg. Early life Born in Surat Thani Province, Surat Thani ...

from

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. Later that year, Dinçel won the silver medal in the women's 49 kg weight class 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 ...

and the 2023 World University Games. At the

2023 World Grand Prix The 2023 World Grand Prix (officially the 2023 Duelbits World Grand Prix) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 16 to 22 January 2023 at The Centaur in Cheltenham, England. The eighth ranking event of the 2022–23 snooker ...

, she took the bronze medal in

, United Kingdom, and the gold medal in

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. She won the gold medal at the 2023 World Championships in

, Azerbaijan. She was honored with the "Best Sportswoman of 2023" award by the

World Taekwondo World Taekwondo, formerly the World Taekwondo Federation, is an international federation governing the sport of Taekwondo and Para Taekwondo. WT is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF). The World Taekwo ...

. In 2024, she won the silver medal in the women's 49kg event at the

European Taekwondo Championships The European Taekwondo Championships are the European senior championships in Taekwondo, first held in Barcelona in 1976. The event is held every two years and is organized by the European Taekwondo Union, the continental affiliate of World Taek ...

held in Belgrade, Serbia. She competed in the 49 kg 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 ...

, France, and advanced to the quarterfinals. After losing her match in the quarterfinals, she won the repechage match. She fought in the bronze medal match against

Lena Stojković Lena Stojković (born 3 January 2002) is a Croatian taekwondo practitioner. She is a two-time World Taekwondo Championships, world champion, a three-time European Taekwondo Championships, European champion and an Olympic bronze medalist. Stojko ...

and placed fifth after losing the fight.

Personal life

Merve Dinçel was born on 22 October 1999. She studied Physical Education in the Faculty of Sport science at

Kırşehir Ahi Evran University Ahi Evran University () is a university located in Kirşehir, 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. ...

. She married Ferhat Can Kavurat, also a national taekwondo practitioner, on 13 July 2023.

Tournament record

References

External links

* * * *
Merve Dincel Kavurat
at the

Paris 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 ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dincel, Merve 1999 births Living people Turkish female taekwondo practitioners European Taekwondo Championships medalists Taekwondo practitioners at the 2022 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Turkey Mediterranean Games medalists in taekwondo 21st-century Turkish sportswomen Place of birth missing (living people) World Taekwondo Championships medalists Taekwondo practitioners at the 2023 European Games European Games silver medalists for Turkey European Games medalists in taekwondo Medalists at the 2021 Summer Universiade FISU World University Games silver medalists for Turkey Summer World University Games medalists in taekwondo Taekwondo practitioners at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic taekwondo practitioners for Turkey