Team Turkey returned home early Tuesday after a successful campaign at the 75th Balkan Athletics Championships held in Romania.
Turkish athletes won a total of 22 medals, including six gold, six silvers and 10 bronze medals in the two-day championship held in the city of Craiova.
Turkey became second in terms of the total medals won and third in the medal ranking among 20 countries.
The national athletes won 13 medals on the first day of the event before adding four gold medals on the second day.
Mikdat Sevler won gold in the men’s 110-meter hurdles with a time of 13.80 seconds, while Şilan Ayyıldız came first in the women’s 1,500-meter event with a timing of 4 minutes 17.27 seconds.
Elsewhere, Turkey’s Hilal Yego won gold in the men’s 3,000-meter hurdles and Ramazan Barbaros came first in the men’s 3,000-meter event with a time of 8 minutes 12.60 seconds
Earlier on Day 1, Emine Hatun Tuna-Mechaal won gold in women’s 3,000-meter and Kayhan Özer came first in the 100-meter sprint.
Other than the gold medals, Oğuzhan Kaya, Oğuz Akgül, Salih Teksöz and Kubilay Ençu won silver in the men’s 4×400-meter relay.
Shot putter Alperen Karahan, runners Yayla Günen, Büşra Yıldırım, Fatma Arık and triple jumper Tuğba Danışmaz all won silvers in their respective events.
Turkey also won 10 bronze medals in different events to take the total medal tally to 22.
Greece topped the medals table with eight gold, seven silver, six bronze, followed by host Romania’s eight gold, five silver and six bronze.
After arriving in the country, gold medalist Şilan Ayyıldız said he was proud of his achievement. He also added that the meet was a success for the national team.
"My goal was to go there, run to the best of my ability and bring the gold medal to our country," he said.
"We had a big contingent. The journey and the team support was very good. We will set out for the Mediterranean Games in a week. My goal is to represent our country there in the best way possible,” he added.
One of Turkey's other gold medalists, Tuna-Mechaal said she was proud to win her first gold medal at the Balkan meet.
"By winning 22 medals, we have achieved great success. We received great support at the event when we were on the track. We were very motivated ..."
"Next week, our journey for the Mediterranean Games will begin. I will represent my country and my flag there too. It will be my first Mediterranean Games. I hope it will be the best. Then there are the Islamic Solidarity Games in Konya. It is also a source of happiness since we are the host country," she added.
