Turkey’s gymnasts met the expectations of the home crowd at the FIG World Challenge Cup in Mersin, winning five of the ten titles and twelve medals across men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics.
Men
Ibrahim Colak won rings, Ferhat Arican parallel bars and Umit Samiloglu also took gold for Turkey. Mustafa Arca won silver on floor, Arican added silver on pommel horse and Ahmet Önder bronze, Yunus Gündoğdu took silver on rings, and Önder won silver on both parallel bars and high bar.
Other winners included Croatia’s Aurel Benović on floor, Slovenia’s Sašo Bertoncelj on pommel horse and Azerbaijan’s Murad Agharzayev on vault. Bulgaria’s David Huddleston won vault silver and Yordan Aleksandrov two bronze medals.
Women
Nazlı Savranbaşlı won uneven bars and Göksu Üçtaş Şanlı floor, bringing Turkey’s total to five titles.
Why Mersin matters
Turkey’s men’s programme grew rapidly in this period. A few weeks after Mersin, Ibrahim Colak became Turkey’s first world champion, on rings in Stuttgart.
Related: our Men’s Artistic Gymnastics page.
