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Canditate city for the 2012 Olympics |
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room in a house, and in that room Istanbul
A mirror in the room, and in that mirror Istanbul
The man lit a cigarette, the smoke of Istanbul
The woman opened her bag,
and in her bag Istanbul
The child threw a line into the sea, I saw
He began to pull it in, on the hook was Istanbul
What kind of water is this, what kind of city?
We walk it follows, we stop it stops
She on one side, I on the other,
in the middle Istanbul
Once you have loved, I realise
Wherever you go, there is Istanbul
If Umit Yasar Oguzcan, who speaks with such
passion about Istanbul in his poems, could have
lived to see the city dedicate itself to world
peace,love, friendship and joy, who knows what
else he might have added to the reflection of
this splendid city in the mirror.The association immediately applied to the International
Olympic Committee for membership of the games,
which was granted in 1911.Turkish athletes had
been interested in the Olympics since the beginning.
When the first games were held in Athens in
1896, a Turkish grease wrestler Koc Mehmet
went to Athens to participate in the games,
but was turned down since he did not possess
any official certification.
Koc 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 Kurtuluswho 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 invitation of
Baron Pierre de Coubert, founder of the modern
Olympics, for whom Mulos served as guide during
the barn’ss 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 34th
place among 119 countries overall, and in 28th
place where gold medals are concerned.Weight-lifter
Naim Suleymanoglu 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. This year Naim is determined
to surpass his own record at the Sidney Olympics.Mustafa Daýstanliand Mithat
Bayrak won two gold medals each at two Olympic
Games, coming in second in the gold medal stakes
to Naim Suleymanolu. Hamit Kaplan became
the first Turkish athlete to win three medals
(a gold, silver and bronze).Turkey
is enthusiastic to host the Olympic Games, confident
in its right to do so and of making the event
a complete success. The Istanbul 2000 campaign
was the first step in this direction, although
Turkey’s bid failed. However, we are pursuing
the matter with faith and determination. Turkey’s
parliament was the first in the world to pass
legislation concerning the staging of the Olympic
Games in Istanbul in the 2000s.
At this yea’su Olympic Games in Sidney, Australia,
to be held between 15 September and 1 October,
Turkey will be represented in athletics, boxing,
wrestling, weight-lifting, archery, judo, target
shooting, swimming, sailing and tekwando by an
estimated 56 athletes. They will strive to win
Olympic medals, the most prized of any in the
sporting world.Turkey’s greatest hopes lie
not only in wrestling, a national sport practised
for many centuries, but in weight-lifting and boxing, in which Turkish
contenders enjoy high world standing and already
have medals to their credit. Another area in
which Turkey reckons to have a good chance is
archery, having missed medals by a hai’ss
breadth at the Atlanta Olympics and won the
European championship just two months ago. Turkey
also has aspirations in judo, for which the
country won a medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics,
and in tekwando, which is being contested as
an Olympic sport for the first time ever. The
coutry’se athletes and swimmers have plenty
of enthusiasm and will strive to do their best.
Our sailors, too, will be competing for medals
in waters at almost the opposite end of the
globe. The Turkish teams will be flying to Sidney
by a special THY flight on 2 September 2000,
and we wish them the best of luck.
By Cem ATABEYOGLU | |
Skylife 2/2001 * By AYŞEGÜL KARTAL |
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