Mete Gazoz (born 8 June 1999 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 ...

) is a Turkish recurve archer. He won the gold medal in the men's individual event at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

held in Tokyo, Japan. He also represented Turkey at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the 2023 World Archery Championships held in Berlin, Mete Gazoz emerged victorious, claiming the prestigious Individual title. In an intense final, he triumphed over the skilled Canadian archer Eric Peters, securing his place as the first Turkish archer to achieve the esteemed recurve gold medal in a World Championship.

Sports career

Gazoz began Archery in 2010. The right-handed archer made his international debut in 2013. He won the silver medal in the Recurve Junior Men Team event at the

2013 World Archery Youth Championships The 2013 World Archery Youth Championships was the 13th edition of World Archery Youth Championships. The event was held in Wuxi, China 13–20 October 2013, and was organised by World Archery. Junior events were held for those under 20, and Cadet ...

Wuxi Wuxi ( zh, s=无锡, p=Wúxī, ) is a city in southern Jiangsu, China. As of the 2024 census, it had a population of 7,495,000. The city lies in the southern Yangtze delta and borders Lake Tai. Notable landmarks include Lihu Park, the Mt. Lings ...

, China. He participated in the

2014 Summer Youth Olympics The 2014 Summer Youth Olympics (), officially known as the II Summer Youth Olympic Games , and commonly known as Nanjing 2014 ( zh, c=南京2014, p=Nánjīng Èr Líng yī sì), were the second Youth Olympic Games, Summer Youth Olympic Games, an ...

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

, China, in the

2015 European Games The 1st European Games (), also known as the 2015 European Games or Baku 2015 (), were the inaugural edition of the European Games, an international multi-sport event for athletes representing the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of the Europe ...

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, and in the 2015 World Archery Championships in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, Denmark. Gazoz won the silver medal in the Recurve Cadet Men event at the European Youth Cup Circuit 2015 in Klagenfurt, Austria, and another silver medal in the Recurve Junior Men Team event at the 2016 World Indoor Archery Championships 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. Gazoz won his first match on 8 August 2016 in the

2016 Rio Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

at 1/32 tour against the French Pierre Plihon, with a score of 6–5. At his second match, 1/16 tour, he lost the game 3–7 against the Dutch

Sjef Van den Berg Sjef van den Berg (born 14 April 1995) is a retired Dutch competitive archer. He has won a total of two medals (a silver in the individual recurve and a bronze for the Dutch team) at the 2015 European Games, and eventually finished fourth in ...

. He won the bronze medal in the Junior Mixed team event with his teammate Yasemin Anagöz at the 2017 World Archery Youth Championships in

Rosario, Santa Fe Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

, Argentina. He claimed the silver medal in the Junior Men's individual event at the 2018 World Indoor Archery Championships held in

Yankton, South Dakota Yankton is a city in and the county seat of Yankton County, South Dakota, United States. It became a city in 1889. The population was 15,411 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in South Dakota, 7th most po ...

, United States. He won the gold medal in individuals 70m category during 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 ...

held in Tarragona, Spain. Mete Gazoz won gold in men's individual archery at

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 ...

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, bringing his country its first-ever Olympic medal in archery. “I’m feeling great. It’s amazing to be here, it’s amazing to have a gold medal at the Olympics. After 2016, after Rio, I promised myself I would be Olympic Champion next time in Tokyo,” said Gazoz. Gazoz, who defeated Luxembourg's Jeff Henckels in the first round match held on Thursday at the Yumenoshima Archery Field, and Australian Ryan Tyack in the second round match, had advanced to the last 16. He advanced to the quarterfinals by knocking off Australian

Taylor Worth Taylor Worth (born 8 January 1991) is an Australian archer competing in recurve events. He won a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in the men's team event, a gold medal at the United States Open and at the 2008 World Youth Archery Cha ...

in the round of 16 in the morning session. Gazoz eliminated

Brady Ellison Brady Ellison (born October 27, 1988) is an American archer who competes in recurve archery. He holds the record for the longest continuous period as the world number-one-ranked men's recurve archer, from August 2011 to April 2013. He earned ...

of the United States, who is ranked number 1 in the world rankings, to book his spot in the semifinals. In the semis, Gazoz defeated Japan's

Takaharu Furukawa is an archery athlete from Japan, competing in both individual and team archery events. He competed in the 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2020 Summer Olympics. He was the 2006 All-Japan National Champion, Archery career Furukawa began his archery career ...

to advance to the final. Here he competed against Italy's

Mauro Nespoli Mauro Nespoli (born 22 November 1987, in Voghera) is an Italian archer. He won individual silver at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and was a member of the Italian teams that won gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics and silver at the 2008 Summer Ol ...

. Gazoz won the match 6–4 and bagged the gold medal. He won the bronze medal in the men's individual recurve event at the 2022 European Archery Championships held in Munich, Germany. Mete Gazoz won the gold medal at the 2023 World Archery Championships held in Berlin, Germany by defeating Canadian Eric Peters 6–4 in the men's individual classical final as a result of 28–27, 28–30, 24–28, 30–28 and 28–29 sets. He defeated El Salvadoran Óscar Ticas 7–3 in the first round, Indian Tushar Prabhakar Shelke 6–0 in the second round, Swiss Florian Faber 6–0 in the third round, American

6–0 in the fourth round, Chilean

Ricardo Soto Ricardo Andrés Soto Pedraza (born 20 October 1999) is a Chilean recurve archer from Concepción. In 2009, he moved to Arica. He competed in the archery event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Career 2016 Summer Olympics At th ...

6–2 in the quarterfinals and Brazilian Marcus D'Almeida 7–3 in the semifinals to reach the final. By winning the silver medal at the 2023 World Archery Championships, the men's classical men's national team consisting of Mete Gazoz, Berkim Tümer and Muhammed Yıldırmış came second in the world. Turkey has achieved a quota for the 2024 Summer Olympics in both team and individual in men's classical men's archery. In 2023, he was honored for the third time with the ''Best Men's Recurve Archer of the Year'' award of the

World Archery Federation World Archery (WA, formerly ''Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc'' (FITA)) is the governing body of the sport of archery. It is based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is composed of 156 national federations and other archery associations, a ...

following in 2018 and 2021. He won the gold medal in the men's individual recurve event at the 2024 European Archery Championships held in Essen, Germany by defeating Slovenian Den Habjan Malavašič 6–0 in the men's individual classical final match in 29–25, 26–25, 30–28 sets. Gazoz had reached the final by eliminating Luxembourg's Pit Klein 6–0, Dutch Steve Wijler 6–0, Dutch Gijs Broeksma 6–0, and French Baptiste Addis 7–1 in the semifinals. In the men's team recurve event team consisting of Mete Gazoz, Berkim Tümer and Berkay Akkoyun won the bronze medal by defeating the Netherlands 5–4 in the third place match. Gazoz became the first archer to hold the Olympic, World and European championships at the same time. Mete Gazoz reached the quarterfinals of the men's individual competition 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 ...

in Paris, France, defeating Chilean Andrés Gallardo 6-0 in the first round, Taiwanese Tang Chih-chun 6-2 in the second round and French Thomas Chirault 6-5 in the third round. He lost 6-4 to South Korea's Kim Woo-jin in the quarterfinals and finished seventh in the Olympics. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, the men's national team consisting of Mete Gazoz, Berkim Tümer and Abdullah Yıldırmış won the bronze medal by defeating China 6-4 in the third place match. This medal was the first medal won by Turkey in team competitions at the Olympics. He won the silver medal at the 2025 European Indoor Archery Championships in Samsun, Turkey, losing 7-3 to Bulgarian Ivan Banchev in the final match of the men's classical bow individual competition. At the 2025 European Indoor Archery Championships, the men's classical bow national team consisting of Mete Gazoz, Berkim Tümer and Abdullah Yıldırmış won another silver medal, losing 5-4 to Italy in the final match.

Honours

;

: ''Best Men's Recurve Archer of the Year'' (3): 2018, 2021, 2023.

References

External links

*
Mete Gazoz
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:Gazoz, Mete Turkish male archers Living people Sportspeople from Istanbul 1999 births Archers at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics Archers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Archers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Archers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Turkey Olympic bronze medalists for Turkey Olympic medalists in archery Olympic archers for Turkey Competitors at the 2018 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 2022 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Turkey Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Turkey Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Turkey Mediterranean Games medalists in archery European Games competitors for Turkey Archers at the 2015 European Games Archers at the 2019 European Games Archers at the 2023 European Games Islamic Solidarity Games medalists in archery 21st-century Turkish sportsmen Islamic Solidarity Games gold medalists for Turkey Islamic Solidarity Games silver medalists for Turkey Medalists at the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games