Meryem Erdoğan (formerly ''Mariam Tanga'' or ''Mariam Hana Dingo'', born 24 April 1990) is an

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

n-born Turkish long-distance runner. In 2012 Erdoğan was banned for two years after doping.

Personal life

She was born on 24 April 1990, in

. Impressed by her countrywoman

Elvan Abeylegesse Elvan Abeylegesse (also formerly: Hewan Abeye (አልቫን አበይለገሠ, Amharic) and Elvan Can ( Turkish); born 11 September 1982) is an Ethiopian-born Turkish middle and long-distance running athlete who competed over distances from 150 ...

, who became a renowned athlete after acquiring Turkish citizenship, she decided to go to Turkey in order to become an athlete there. In 2006, at age of 16, she illegally immigrated to Turkey via

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. She was caught by police in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, however barely escaped

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...

. Following adventurous times, she was acknowledged as a talented athlete candidate by Ertan Hatipoğlu, the former coach of Abeylegesse. Her application for Turkish citizenship was accepted in January 2010. She took the Turkish name Meryem and chose as surname Erdoğan for her admiration of the Turkish prime minister

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

Sports career

Rejected initially by the clubs Enkaspor and Fenerbahçe Athletics due to her illegal status, Meryem Erdoğan was admitted to Kasımpaşaspor in Istanbul and finally entered

Kocaeli Büyükşehir Belediyesi Kağıt Spor Kulübü The Kocaeli Büyükşehir Belediyesi Kağıt Spor Kulübü, aka Kocaeli BB Kağıtspor, is a multi-sports club sponsored by the Metropolitan Municipality of Kocaeli in Turkey. It was founded in 1937 as "İzmit Kağıtspor", a sports club of the ...

İzmit İzmit () is a municipality and the capital Districts of Turkey, district of Kocaeli Province, Turkey. Its area is 480 km2, and its population is 376,056 (2022). The capital of Kocaeli Province, it is located at the Gulf of İzmit in the Sea ...

, where she is being coached by Öznur Dursun, a former national female athlete. She participated at various international long-distance runs held in Turkey under her Ethiopian identification as Mariam Tanga or Mariam Hana Dingo. In 2009, she placed second at the

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

Trabzon Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...

and fourth in the 15 km run at the 31st

Eurasia Marathon The Istanbul Marathon (, also known as Türkiye İş Bankası Istanbul Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an international Track and field athletics, athletics event hosted in Istanbul, Turkey, in November, first held in 1979. It is the onl ...

in Istanbul. In March of the same year, she won the

10 km 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

road run of the 4th International Runtalya Marathon in

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

with a time of 33:09. Her international debut following her acquirement of a Turkish passport was at the

Papaflessia Papaflessia () is an annual international track and field meeting that is held in Kalamata, Greece. The meeting falls within the European Athletic Association's calendar of meeting. The event caters to both men and women and athletic events held at ...

international meeting held in

Kalamata Kalamata ( ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece after Patras, and the largest city of the Peloponnese (region), homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regiona ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

on 29 May 2010, where she won the

1500 m The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilometer ...

event in 4:16.92. At her next international participation, the 14th European Cup 10000m held on 5 June 2010, in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, she placed fourth in a personal best time of 31:55.53. On 28 July 2010, Erdoğan finished fifth in the 10000 m final at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

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 Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, clocking a new personal best of 31:44.86. Four days later, on 1 August 2010, she finished seventh in the 5000 m final, in another personal best time of 15:14.92. She became the women's under-23 champion at the

2010 European Cross Country Championships The 2010 European Cross Country Championships was a continental cross country running competition that took place on 12 December in Albufeira, Portugal. It was the second time that the country hosted the event, building upon the 1997 edition he ...

, winning by a margin of nine seconds.UNDER 23 WOMEN'S FINAL: Turkey’s Erdogan fulfils her role as favourite
. European Athletics (12 December 2010). Retrieved on 12 December 2010. In 2012 Erdoğan was banned for two years after doping.

Performance progression

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Erdogan, Meryem 1990 births Living people Naturalized citizens of Turkey Turkish female long-distance runners Ethiopian female long-distance runners Turkish sportspeople in doping cases Ethiopian emigrants to Turkey Kocaeli Büyükşehir Belediyesi Kağıt Spor Kulübü sportspeople Doping cases in athletics Turkish female marathon runners Olympic athletes for Turkey Olympic female marathon runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Place of birth missing (living people)