Raşit Öztaş (born 1920, date of death unknown) was a Turkish
athlete
An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance.
Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...
who competed in the
men's 100 metres in the
1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...
.
Raşit Öztaş was born in
Nevşehir . His father Mahmut was a carpet and peanut merchant. Mahmut and his wife Atiye (daughter of
Hüseyin Hüsnü Pasha
Hüseyin Hüsnü Pasha (Modern Turkish: ''Hüseyin Hüsnü Paşa''; 1852–1918) was an Ottoman admiral, who participated in the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78)
The Russo-Turkish wars (or Ottoman–Russian wars) were a series of twelve wars foug ...
) had emigrated to
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
from
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
shortly after they married. The family settled in
Adana
Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana Province, Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million.
Adana lies in the heart ...
and had three children. Mahmut died when Raşit was young and his mother died shortly thereafter.
Raşit lived with his uncle for a time and then with a family friend. He finished primary school and started secondary school in Adana, then completed his high school education in
Eskiseheir where his brother lived. He had always been interested in sport and became a runner in high school. He began to travel to tournaments with the Turkish athletic team. While in high school, he won the Turkish championships several times and also won the
Eastern Mediterranean Athletics Championship once.
He then obtained a degree from the Faculty of Foreign Trade and Consular Business of the
Izmir University Economy and Trade Sciences department. Whilst studying at University, Raşit continued with his sports career and training without rest and in his last year at university in 1948 he won the Turkish championship and qualified to represent Turkey at the London Olympics in the 100x200m. He was third in his heat in the
1948 London Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...
.
After representing Turkey in the London Olympics in 1948, he returned to
Ankara
Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
to do his
reserve officer
A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve f ...
military duty. Before he started his military duty, his commanders asked him to stay in the military to train successful sports people like himself, but he preferred to go to Gaziler Tepesi where he was appointed as a reserve officer and to do his national duty there.
After he completed his national duty as a reserve officer, Raşit Öztaş was appointed to a sugar factory as a manager.
When he was in his fourth year of university, Raşit Öztaş married Azize Oztas who was a student at Eskisehir-Mahmudiye-Cifteler Village Institute teachers training school. They had three children, Atilla, Gulden and Ulku, and later three grandchildren.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rasit Oztas
1920 births
Year of death missing
Turkish male sprinters
Olympic athletes for Turkey
Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics
20th-century Turkish sportspeople
Sportspeople from Nevşehir