Turkish sporting highlights in 2016

Maybe it was not the best year for Turkish sports, but 2016 ends with some memorable moments for Turkey. Turkey competed in 21 fields in the Rio 2016 Olympics for the first time with a record number of athletes. A total of 103 Turkish athletes let down the country with only eight medals.

Turkey won one gold, three silver and four bronze medals in branches that included canoeing, tennis and the modern pentathlon.

Turkey put in its best performances in wrestling, the country's traditional sport. Taha Akgül won Turkey's first gold at the Rio Olympics beating Iran's Komeil Ghasemi in the men's -125kg freestyle final. Akgül, 25, beat his 28-year-old opponent 3-1 to add to his world titles from 2014 and 2015.

Turkish wrestlers also won two silver medals and two bronzes at Rio 2016, with two of the country's athletes advancing into the final matches.

Reigning world champion Rıza Kayaalp lost 6-0 to Cuban Mijain Lopez in the Greco-Roman 130-kilogram category final. In hindsight, Kayaalp also won his sixth continental crown at the European wrestling championship this year.


Nazmiye Muratlı broke world records to claim the first Paralympic powerlifting gold medal in the women's under-40 kilograms.

Selim Yaşar bagged a silver medal after he was beaten by Russia's Abdulrashid Sadulaev in men's freestyle wrestling in the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Daniyar Ismayilov, competing in the men's 69kg weightlifting, won Turkey's first medal in Rio after lifting a total of 351kg and bagging the silver.

Turkey's Cuban-born sprinter Yasmani Copello Escobar claimed the bronze medal in the men's 400-meter hurdles final at the Rio Olympics.

Turkey won three gold, one silver and five bronze medals at the Rio Paralympics. Nazmiye Muratlı broke world records to claim the first Paralympic powerlifting gold medal in the women's under-40 kilograms.


Eczacıbaşı VitrA's women volleyball team went down in the history books.

Although Turkey's national football team came third in the group stages at Euro 2016, their campaign came to an end after results in Group E and Group F meant it was impossible for them to be placed among the top four third-placed finishers.

As for the local league, Beşiktaş claimed their first Turkish league title since 2009 this year. Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe and Osmanlıspor are among the last 32 teams in the Europa League.

In basketball, Fenerbahçe were the 2015-16 Turkish Airlines Euroleague runners-up after losing to CSKA Moscow 101-96 in overtime in the final.

The other Turkish powerhouse, Galatasaray Odeabank won the title in the second tier of European basketball ULEB Eurocup by defeating France's Strasbourg 78-67.

Fenerbahçe won bronze in the 2016 EuroLeague Women's Final, defeating Prague 73-69. The hunt for a ticket to FIBA EuroBasket Women 2017 came to an end for Turkey as they were overpowered Bosnia and Herzegovina in Ankara in their last qualifying match. Both Fenerbahçe's men's and women's teams won the Spor Toto Basketball League.

In volleyball, 2016 was a good year for Turkey. Eczacıbaşı VitrA went down in the history books after they edged Pomi Casalmaggiore in five nail-biting sets in the final of the 2016 FIVB Women's Club World Championship, becoming the only club to have won the trophy twice.

As for athletics, Yasemin Can won the Women's 10,000-meter gold at the 2016 European Athletics Championships. Can also won the Vodafone Istanbul Marathon in the 15 kilometer category.

For the third time Kenyan-born Azerbaijani runner Evans Kiplagat finished first in the 2016 Vodafone Istanbul Marathon's men's race.

Kenyan athlete Agnes Jeruto Barsosio won the women's marathon with a time of two hours, 28 minutes and 24 seconds. Thousands of people took part in the Istanbul Marathon where this year's theme was, "We are running for the July 15 martyrs." Kenan Sofuoğlu beat all his challengers to win at the Gaerne Spanish Round and was crowned champion once again. He is the only rider this season to have won more than one race and has secured his remarkable fifth Supersport World Championship.

Meanwhile, Çağla Büyükakçay became the first Turkish female tennis player in the Open era to reach the second round of a Grand Slam.

Portuguese cyclist Jose Gonçalves, racing for Spanish team Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, won the 52nd Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey.

Turkey won eight gold medals, two silver and two bronze medals in the European Weightlifting Championship held in Norway.

World record-breaking Turkish freediver Şahika Ercümen dove down 93 meters in two minutes 40 seconds to mark Turkey's Republic Day, breaking her own world record of 91 meters.

Elsewhere, Ayşee Begüm Onbaşı, a 15-year-old athlete, became champion at the Aerobic Gymnastics World Championships.