Atatürk University students Fatih Arda İpcioğlu and Furkan Akar, who competed on behalf of Turkey in the 2022 Winter Olympics held in Beijing, the capital of China, are returning to our country by experiencing the firsts of the history of our sport.

19-year-old national athlete Furkan Akar, who competed in the men's 1000-meter short track speed skating final in the 2022 Winter Olympics and ranked 6th, earned Turkey the best rank in the history of the Winter Olympics in the category he competed in. The crescent-star athlete stated that they achieved this result by believing as a team.

Furkan Akar: "I Have Many Olympics Before Me"

Emphasizing that it is difficult to even imagine getting to this point, but that they believe in it together with his coach, Akar said: "Really believing is half of success. I finished the competition in 6th place in the Olympics. Could it have been a medal? Of course, it could have been, but it was like that. We just started. More in front of me. "There are many Olympics, there are many races. I will return to our country with a medal by achieving the best degrees in them. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my Rector Prof. Dr. Ömer Çomaklı, who stood by me, especially my family, my trainer and the federation committee, and our people, whose support I always feel behind me," he said.

Flying Turk Fatih Becomes the First Athlete to Ski Jump in the Olympic Finals

Another Atatürk University student, Fatih Arda İpcioğlu, made a historic jump at the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. The national athlete, who made history by passing the ski jumping qualifications in the Olympics, completed the Olympic Games in 36th place with a 99.0-meter jump and 115.0 points in the 1st round of the normal hill final. National athlete Fatih Arda İpcioğlu, known as the Flying Turk and who brought great success to Turkey in the ski jumping branch, will compete in another competition, the big hill qualifiers, on February 11.

Expressing that he is happy to have competed in the Olympics, which is the highest level in terms of athletes, İpcioğlu said: “thank you for supporting us. Coming here was not easy. We jumped at the Olympics. We tried to do our best, but we were not able to reach the final. I am proud and happy to have represented my country for the first time in Ski Jumping. We have the elimination race on the big hill and then the final stage. I would like to thank everyone for their support and prayers during this process. I will continue to work to do better for my country," he said.

Rector Çomaklı: "The Success of Our Athletes puffed up our pride"

Stating that they have achieved the results of the value and support that Atatürk University gives to sports and athletes, with such successful results, Rector Prof. Dr. Ömer Çomaklı said that 7 athletes from Turkey participated in the winter Olympics held in Beijing, and 2 of these athletes were students of Atatürk University Faculty of Sports Sciences: “Our athletes who competed in the finals for the first time in both speed skating and ski jumping made both our country and our university proud. Furkan Akar's 6th place was the biggest indicator that he will achieve important successes in the coming period. In ski jumping, the fact that Fatih Arda made the most successful jump of his career in the Olympics showed us how well he prepared for the competitions. I would like to thank and heartily congratulate both of our athletes for their efforts, perseverance and achievements. We will continue to give our support to all our athletes whose hearts beat for our Crescent and Star Flag.”

CORPORATE COMMUNICATION DIRECTORATE – 09.02.2022