01.07.2012 12:20
Turkey had a great day at the European Athletics Championships in Helsinki on Saturday, clinching three gold medals and sending a strong message to rivals about the upcoming Olympic Games in London.
Turkey had a great day at the European Athletics Championships in Helsinki on Saturday, clinching three gold medals and sending a strong message to rivals about the upcoming Olympic Games in London.
Gülcan Mıngır of Turkey won the women's 3,000 meter steeplechase final in Helsinki, while Polat Kemboi Arıkan won the men's 10,000 meter event. Nevin Yanit capped off a glorious day for the Turks by clinching a gold medal in the women's 100 hurdles.
The 23-year-old Mıngır finished in a time of 9 minutes and 32.96 seconds ahead of Ukraine's Svitlana Schmidt (9: 33.03) and Antje Möldner-Schmidt of Germany (9: 36.37).
Born in the town of Döğer in Afyonkarahisar province in western Turkey, she is a member of the Fenerbahçe athletics club, where she is coached by İhsan Alptekin. Mıngır is current a physical education and sports student at Dumlupınar University in Kütahya. The Turkish middle distance runner was also the gold medalist in the 3,000 meters race at the 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships, which was held in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Yanit clocked 12.81 ahead of Belarus's Alina Talai (12.91) and another Belarusian Ekaterina Poplavskaya (12.97).
The 26-year-old Mersin-born Yanit is currently a student of physical education at Mersin University and also a member of the Fenerbahçe athletics club. She is the current national record holder of both the 60 and 100 meter hurdles. Yanıt won the silver medal at the 2007 Summer Universiade in Bangkok.
Kenyan-born Arıkan, who won the bronze in the 5,000 meters race on Wednesday night, raised the bar in the 10,000 on Saturday to take home the gold.
The Kenyan-Turkish runner clocked 28: 22.27, providing the best finish in a slow race, to finish ahead of Italian Daniele Meucci (28: 22.73) and Yevgeniy Rybakov of Russia (28: 22.95).
Arıkan -- born Paul Kipkosgei Kemboi on Dec. 12, 1990 in Cheptiret, Kenya -- switched allegiance to Turkey on June 8, 2011 and changed his name to Polat Kemboi Arıkan.