The sports world celebrated the centenary of the modern Olympic Games four years ago in Atlanta and with the Sidney 2000 Games, this sporting extravaganza will 104 years of age

Since the Olympic Games were revived in Athens in 1896, 23 Olympics have actually taken place, three being cancelled due to World War I and II- Berlin 1916, Tokyo 1940 and London 1944. Yet these are nevertheless counte, which is why Athens 2004 is officially be described as the 28th Olympic Games.

Turkish athletes have participated in 17 of the 23 events over the past 108 years, so sitting the Turkish flag flying at this peerless event. The Turkish National Olympic Committee will mark its 89 th year under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee, and is proud to be the 13 th country to have established a national Olympic committee.

With the proclamation of constitutional rule in 1908, the right to form associations was granted and the Ottoman Olympic Association was established by Selim Sirri Tarcan. The association immediately applied to be International Olympic Committee for membership of the games, which was granted in 1911.

Turkish athletes had been interested in Olympics since the beginning . When the first games were held in Athens in 1896, a Turkish grease wrestler Koç Mehmet went to Athens to participate in the games, but was turned down since he did not possess any official certification. Koç Mehmet might not have been able to wrestle in Athens , but he has still won immortality as the first Turkish sportsman to try to enter the olympics.

Aleko Mulos, a gymnast from Kurtulus who wrote his name in the Olympic Register for the London Olympics in 1908, became the first sportsman to represent the star and crescent flag.
He participated upon the innovation of Baron Pierre de Coubert, founder of the modern olympics, for whom Mulos served as guide during the baron's stay in Istanbul .

Since then Turkish athletes have won thirty gold, sixteen silver and thirteen bronze medals – a total of 59 altogether. This puts Turkey in 34 th place among 119 countries overall, and in 28 th place where gold medals are concerned.

Weight- lifter Naim Süleymanoglu won three gold medals at three successive olympics(1988 Seul, 1992 Barcelona, and 1996), becoming not only a Turkish record holder, but the first and only weight- lifter to win three gold medals in succession in the history of the games.

Mustafa Dagistanli and Mithat Bayrak won two medals each at two Olympic Games, coming in second in the gold medal stakes to Naim Süleymanoglu. Hamit Kaplan became the first Turkish athlete to win three medals( a gold, silver and bronze).

SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES & TURKEY

First Participants

•  1896 Athens (Games of the I Olympiad)--- Mehmet Koç

(wrestler), (IOC refuse, not certificated)

•  1900 Paris --- No participant (athletes)

•  1904 St. Louis (ABD) --- No participant

•  1906 Athens --- Ottomans 30 athletes à Istanbul, Izmir, Selanik

Minorities: English, Greek, Armenian, Jewish

Yorgo Alibrantis à World Record Climbing Rope

(10 meters, still he holds record, 114 sec.)

•  1908 London --- Aleko Mulos (special invitation)

First official Athlete to participate in Olympic Games

SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES & TURKEY

•  1912 Stockholm --- two athletes

- Vahrom Papazyan à 1500m. (sponsor)

- Migirdiç Migiryan à Discuss Thrown(family support)

Shot Put (Left-Right)

Decathlon (Injury-long jump)

•  1916 Berlin --- because of World War I (1914-1918),not hold

•  1920 Antwers --- Not invited (Loser of W.W.I.)

•  1924 Paris --- 16 January 1924 decision 171 (no success, 50000)

•  1928 Amsterdam --- 67 kg. (Tayyar Yalaz 4th)

Soccer team 7-1 beaten by Egytp

SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES & TURKEY

•  1932 Los Angeles --- Sava Hazencioglu – Journalist, Cumhuriyet (no budget)

•  1936 Berlin --- 60 athletes, 12 managers, 2 coaches,

4 referees (total 78), 2 woman (fencing)

Ahmet Kireççi(Mersinli), 78kg (Free Style) à First Medal (Bronz)

Yasar Erkan, 61kg (Greko) à First Gold Medal

•  1940 Tokyo – 1944 Londra --- because of World War II (1939-1945), not hold

•  1948 London --- 67 athletes+16=83

6 gold (wrestling), 4 silver (wrestling),

2 bronz (wrestling and track&field – triple jump, Ruhi Sarialp,first medal in olympic games)

SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES & TURKEY

•  1952 Helsinki --- Nasuh Akar, Gazanfer Bilge, Halil Kaya

Yasar Dogu, Ruhi Sarialp (IOC refuse, they are amateurs, reason they took money)

2 gold (wrestling), 1 bronz (wrestling)

•  1956 Stocholm --- Equestrian Games, first&only

2 riders (military)

•  1956 Melbourne --- 15 wrestlers(only), 12 managers & coaches & referees (total=27)

3 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronz

•  1960 Rome --- 55 athletes, 31 managers & coaches & referees (total=86)

7 gold medal, the most (all in wrestling)

2 silver ( all in wrestling)

SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES & TURKEY

•  1964 Tokyo --- Track&field, weight-lifting, wrestling,sailing

25 athletes, 16 managers&coaches&referees

2 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronz (wrestling)

•  1968 Mexico City --- 3 shooters, 4 athletes, 6 boxers,

20 wrestlers (total=33 athletes)

21 managers & coaches & referees

2 gold (wrestling)

Ismail Akçay took 4th place in marathon

•  1972 Munich --- 1 silver (wrestling)

•  1976 Montreal --- No Medal

Peri Suzan Özkum (diver)

SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES & TURKEY

•  1980 Moscow --- Turkey boycotted this olympic game

3 managers & 1 referee

•  1984 Los Angeles --- 1 bronz (wrestling)

2 bronz (boxing), first medals since 1948 in track&field besides wrestling

•  1988 Seoul --- 1 gold, Naim Süleymanoglu(weight-lifting, olympic record for Turkey)

1 silver (wrestling)

•  1992 Barcelona --- 2 gold (weight lifting, wrestling)

2 silver, 2 bronz – 1 silver, 1 bronz (Demonstration Sport, Taekwando, Aysegül Ergin, Arzu Tan)

Hülya Senyurt à First medal for Turkish women in olympics

SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES & TURKEY

•  1996 Atlanta --- 4 gold (2 weight lifting, 2 wrestling)

1 silver (boxing), 1 bronz (wrestling)

•  2000 Sdyney --- 3 gold (weight lifting, wrestling, judo)

Hüseyin Özkan (judo) à First gold medal besides weight lifting & wrestling

2 bronz à Taekwando - Hamide Biçkin

Wrestling - Adem Bereket (doping)

2004 Athens

Nurcan Taylan Halter Gold (first gold medal in women)

Taner Sagir Halter Gold

Halil Mutlu Halter Gold

Sedat Artuç Halter Bronz

Esref Apak Atletizm/ Çekiç Bronz: First medal in Track & Field reagrding to throwing event

Seref Eroglu wrestling Silver

Mehmet Özal wrestling Bronz

Aydin Polatçi wrestling Bronz

Atagün Yalçinkaya Boxing Silver: Youngest Turkish Athlete who won the medal

Bahri Tanrikulu Taekwando Silver

TURKEY : 36 Gold, 19 Silver, 19 Bronz (total=74 medal)

PES 415 HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SPORTS