First, let’s assess the situation. While we’re reaching our peak in women’s volleyball, our women have left their mark on 2023. Let’s begin by sharing a list of these achievements (I largely used the Onedio website to compile this list: https://onedio.com/haber/2023-te-avrupa-ve-dunya-sampiyonalarinda-kursunun-en-ust-basamagina-cikan-turk-kadinlari-1175685 . Here are their dazzling videos on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cxvi2CYNSRl/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=8a4e2614-75d6-460b-958d-6262b50c9848 ):
1) Volleyball:
Our Turkish Women’s National Volleyball Team, nicknamed the Sultans of the Net in volleyball, has had four significant achievements this year:
a. FIVB Nations League World Championship: The Sultans of the Net defeated their opponents, China, 3-1 in the final, securing their first championship in the organization’s history.
b.European Championship: They defeated Serbia in the final of the 2023 CEV European Championship to become European Champions
c.Olympic Qualification: They won all their group matches, including tough matches against Japan and Brazil, in the qualifiers played in Japan. By winning 7 of 7, finishing first in their group, and breaking a record of 22 consecutive matches, the Sultans of the Net qualified for next year’s games in Paris. (Note: This addition was made to this article on the final day of the qualifiers, 24 September 2023)
d.World Ranking: As a result of these three successes and decades of consistent growth, our women’s national team reached first place in the world rankings as of July. They not only secured their place, but also increased their lead daily, reaching a record country score of 397.46. Currently, we are approximately 40 points behind our closest rival, the USA (358.62), and such a clear gap between first and second has never been experienced before. Establishing a dominant and lasting superiority over volleyball giants with deep-rooted traditions, such as the USA, China, Brazil, Serbia, and Russia, is undoubtedly the greatest achievement in Turkish sports history. (See: https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/world-ranking/women )
(Note: The Volleyworld website was accessed on September 24, 2023, the final day of the qualifiers, and the “First in the World Ranking” section was added to this article on the same date.)
2) Basketball:
In women’s basketball, Fenerbahçe Alagöz Holding Women’s Basketball Team, last season’s EuroLeague Champions, defeated reigning EuroCup champion Asvel 109-52 at the Astroballe Sports Hall in the 12th FIBA Super Cup match, winning the Super Cup. 3) Wrestling:
a. Nesrin Baş, Zeynep Yetgil, and Yasemin Adar became European Wrestling champions.
b. Buse Tosun Çavuşoğlu became World Champion. 28-year-old Buse Tosun Çavuşoğlu’s next goal is to repeat the same success at the 2024 Paris Olympics: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cxfyus8ISvv/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng%3D%3D
4) Ice Skating:
Ice skater Naz Arıcı became World Figure Skating Champion.
5) Combat Sports:
a.Taekwondo:
i. Sude Yaren Uzunçavdar became European Champion.
ii. Nafia Kuş became both European and World Champion.
b. Boxing: Boxers Busenaz Sürmeneli, Naz Çakıroğlu, and Yoncagül Yılmaz also became European Champions.
c. Kickboxing: Emine Arslan won the gold medal in the full-contact kickboxing discipline at the European Games.
d. Muay Thai: Bediha Tacyıldız, representing Turkey at the 2023 European Games, defeated her Czech opponent in the Muay Thai 63.5-kilogram category to win the gold medal.
6) Track & Field:
a. Athlete Tuğba Danışmaz became the world champion in the triple jump at the World University Games.
b. Dilek Koçak won the gold medal in the 1500-meter run at the European Athletics Championships.
7) Rowing: Elis Özbay became the World Rowing Champion.
8) Swimming:
a. Merve Tuncel won the gold medal in the 1500-meter freestyle final at the European Junior Swimming Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia, with a time of 16:18.53.
b. 22-year-old Turkish swimmer Aysu Türkoğlu achieved a major success. Türkoğlu became the first Turkish woman and the youngest Turkish athlete to swim the North Channel between Northern Ireland and Scotland.
9) Sailing:
Turkish female sailor Başak Mireli set sail for the Atlantic Ocean solo from Mindelo Marina on the Cape Verde Islands on 23 December. After a challenging 24-day journey, she reached Martinique in the Caribbean on 15 January, achieving a historic feat. Mireli became the first Turkish woman to swim solo across the Atlantic Ocean in her 12-meter yacht, the Istanbul.
10) Computer Science:
Duru Özer won a gold medal in the Computer Science Olympiad.
11) Paralympics:
a. Athlete Ada Zehra Antıcı became the European champion in breaststroke swimming.
b. Archer Merve Nur Eroğlu became the World Champion,
c. Badminton player Halime Yıldız became the European Champion,
d. Table tennis player Ebru Acer became the European Champion.
Significant Female Dominance in Medals
Looking at last year, a similar situation is evident. Women won the majority of the medals won by Turkish athletes at the 2022 World Championships. Turkish athletes won 551 medals across various age groups at the 2022 World Championships, with women winning 337 and men winning 214. Furthermore, when evaluated over the long term, according to data from the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the number of licensed female athletes, which was 98,590 in 2003, reached 5,964,167 as of 19 July 2023.
The medal preponderance of female athletes is also evident at the European Championships. National athletes won a total of 948 medals in Europe in 2022, 521 of which were won by women and 427 by men.
Across all competitions in 2022, Turkey won 6,127 medals in 51 branches. Women earned more medals than men. This figure also applies to the first six months of 2023. I also recommend watching the Fayn News Link: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwFox_poGyL/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng%3D%3D
Even in basketball, our most successful men’s sport, we were unable to secure an Olympic ticket this year. Unfortunately, our men’s basketball team, once ranked second in the world, will not be able to play in the 2024 Paris Olympics despite having many players playing in the NBA: http://cuts2.com/tVELN
Why are our women more successful?
Now, let’s discuss why Turkish women are more successful than men. I’d like to share my findings:
1) Women in Turkey are more disciplined and selfless than men.
2) The men who lead women’s sports have lower egos than those in men’s sports and approach matters more scientifically. Here, the club managers with the highest egos prioritize men’s football. Each of them is as capable of creating controversy and spreading rumors as teenagers.
3) Budgets are lower outside of football, especially in women’s sports. This means that great success can be achieved with lower budgets.
4) In a country where women are constantly declining in terms of social rights, their need to prove themselves grows stronger every year.
5) The incredible successes we see today, especially in sports like volleyball, have been achieved over the last 20 years thanks to significant planning and infrastructure built on merit. These successes have been evident at the club level for the past 10 years, and today, Turkey has become the best volleyball league in the world, yet these successes have never been reflected in the national team. This year, with Melissa Vargas joining the team and Daniele Santarelli taking over as team leader, this chain was broken, and successes began to emerge at the highest level.
6) We are seeing successful recruitment choices among women. The trend in athletics, which began with Ethiopian athletes, is now replicating itself in other sports. Melissa Vargas is a prime example.
7) Women who won medals in different sports have set an example for each other and motivated each other positively. For example, I’m sure our female boxers who won medals in the Olympics have also motivated our women in kickboxing or taekwondo. Even women in completely unrelated sports were motivated by the raising of our crescent-star flag and the singing of our National Anthem.
8) Thanks to infrastructure investments, our women have begun to make the most of the increased opportunities. They can continue their sports activities uninterrupted at their schools or in their immediate surroundings.
9) As their international experience has grown, they have begun to clarify their goals and constantly step up their game in their respective sports. Their success has only increased. Men are relatively stagnating.
After all, despite Galatasaray’s lack of success in football, by far the most popular sport among men, aside from winning European cups in 2000-2001, men’s football is always the most talked about topic. Things have gotten to the point where men, whose song “Aşkın Olalım” (I’ll Be Your Love), by another successful female artist, Simge Sağın, has become an adolescent fantasy. You can watch it from this link; https://www.instagram.com/reel/CviB0NMt2m1/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng%3D%3D
While men are stagnating in many sports like football, our women are stepping up in international competitions. Much work needs to be done to ensure the sustainability of this sporting record, which makes us proud in the centennial of the Republic. I’ll save that for another blog post.
In the next post, I’ll write about Icardi, an adolescent fantasy, as an example of why men are lagging behind in sports, especially football.
I want to express my wholehearted support for all women of the Republic, hoping they will achieve many more successes in every field of life, especially science, sports, and the arts.
Tag: education
