Turkish athletes set for big showing at Beijing Olympics

Of course it is not just the host country that is excited about the Games; the athletes from each participating country, including Turkey, are waiting in eager anticipation. "Turkey is as ready as it can be," said Mehmet Atalay, the Turkish Youth and Sports general director. "Turkey intends to bring home five golds, five silvers and five bronzes this year," he added. Turkey was able to pick up 10 medals in Athens four years ago.

Togay Bayatlı, the president of the Turkish Olympic Committee, is not so optimistic though. He anticipates that the Turkish Olympic team will bring in five gold and three or four bronze and silver medals. Speaking to Today's Zaman, Bayatlı noted that there has been an increase in the number of female participants. "In Beijing 2008 the number of Turkish women is significantly higher than in the last Games," he stated.

Especially in wrestling, women will play a key role on the Turkish team, while sailing will have the contributions of Sedef Köktentürk. Atalay emphasized that Turkey's young population is fertile ground for such an international sports event. "The number of our licensed athletes reached 2.5 million from around 400,000 in the last five years, Atalay said.

Bayatlı, an 80-year-old outspoken sports veteran, noted that the Turkish Olympic Committee's goal is to have 10 million licensed athletes in the next decade. "Since our population is very young, we can train many more athletes in a variety of fields so that we can bring more medals home," he said.

Whether you win medals or not, international events contribute a great deal to the development of sporting culture in Turkey, according to Atalay. "They make sports more appealing for the nation's youth. And thanks to these sorts of events, large sporting facilities get built quickly and promoters and campaigners begin to pour endorsement money toward these activities," he noted. "The number of medals you win energizes the masses and helps you garner public support and interest in sports," added Atalay.

Bayatlı drew attention to the "recognition factor" of the Olympics for the host country. "The Olympic games promotes a positive image of the host country," he stated, adding, "It positions the host country in a better standing in the eyes of the world public." He cited Korea as an example. "Korean brands LG and Hyundai got recognition because of the Olympics held in South Korea," he said. There is a substantial amount of money allocated to the infrastructure of the country that is selected to host the Games, he noted, adding that it helps the host country undertake massive projects and pumps money into the nation's economy. Bayatlı pointed to Barcelona as a prime example of this. "Before the Games held in 1992, the city looked terrible -- the beaches, the streets, everything. The Games made a difference and the city now is the sixth most livable place in the world," he stated.

China also felt the need to take drastic measures to present a better image of Beijing. They started to implement measures to reduce air pollution in the city. They even halted the operation of some factories and imposed limits on the number of cars on the roads. The pollution level has come down by 50 percent. They also did away with factories using coal for power.

Atalay pointed to Australia as a model country for Turkey. "When they hosted the Olympics, the entire country spoke about sports. The number of athletes went up quickly and they continued to produce great athletes after the Games," he said, adding, "Australia has in time become a nation which comes away with an average of 50 medals from every Olympics." Atalay seemed confident about Turkey's path in regards to the Olympics. "I believe one day we will surpass many countries," he stated. "All we have to do is to harness the great potential provided by our youth," he noted, adding, "We need to train this energetic population well however."

The Turkish Olympic Committee has many financial problems. It could not pay the debt accrued from constructing the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, which is the main reason Turkey has not applied to be a host candidate for the 2016 Games. Bayatlı noted: "The economic conditions in the country are not ready for 2016."  The Turkish Olympic Committee's debts are not limited to the stadium. They also could not repay their debt to the Treasury.

Turkish Olympic Committee General Director Yalçın Aksoy pointed out that "the support for the committee is not sufficient." The expenditures of the committee are nearly YTL 2 trillion annually. The revenue comes from the proceeds of the Turkish National Lottery Administration, Sport Toto and the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. One percent of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's income is supposed to be transferred to the committee but the municipality cannot pay its own debts. "It's possible that in three months we will not be able to pay the salaries of our employees," noted Aksoy.

The support of the government apparently is not enough and the current security situation would have lowered the chances of being selected for 2016. "The terror attacks recently would have damaged Turkey's chances in the selection process because this is a major security issue. Maybe in 2020 the negative events will be forgotten, but this is not possible for the 2016 games," Aksoy stated.

Bayatlı is very optimistic for Turkey's chances in 2020. "Our stadium is ready," he said. "Since the selection for the Olympic Games is made seven years in advance, our chance to complete all the projects is very good," Bayatlı noted. "Our aim is to submit sound and reasonable projects to the members of International Olympic Committee [IOC]," he stated.

Though worthy of recognition, the achievements of Turkey in the Olympic Games have thus far not been that impressive. Turkish athletes attended the Olympic Games for the first time in 1908. In its 100 years of participation, Turkey has picked up 33 gold, 16 silver and 15 bronze medals, with 27 of the gold medals from wrestling. Turkey is 29th in the general medal standings. Turkey has competed in athletics, marksmanship, boxing, riding, fencing, wrestling, weightlifting, judo, archery, rowing, taekwondo, swimming, sailing, soccer and basketball. In Beijing Turkey will compete in cycling and table tennis for the first time.

The first gold medal for Turkey came from Yaşar Erkan, who competed in wrestling in the 1936 Berlin Games. The first bronze medal was won by "Mersinli" Ahmet Kireççi in the same year, and the first athletes in fencing were Halet Çambel and Suat Fetgeri Aşeni. The first bronze medal in judo in the women's category came in the 1992 Barcelona Games from Hülya Şenyurt, while the first gold medal in weightlifting among women was won by Nurcan Taylan in the 2004 Athens Games.

The first medal in athletics was garnered by Ruhi Sarıalp in the 1948 London Games (bronze in triple jump). Eşref Apak won a bronze medal in the hammer throw in the 2004 Athens Games. Üner Teoman represented Turkey in athletics among women for the first time in the 100 meters in the 1948 London Games. In the 1968 Mexico Games, Turkey participated in the boxing category but was unable to win a medal. However, in the 1996 Atlanta Games the silver medal was picked up by Malik Berberoğlu.

The greatest achievement was by Naim Süleymanoğlu. He won three successive gold medals in weightlifting in the 60 kilogram category. He was able to lift three times his own weight. In the 1996 Atlanta Games and the 2000 Sydney Games Hamza Yerlikaya took the gold in Greco-Roman wrestling.