National athlete Yunus Emre Civelek, a Balkan and European champion, aims to break the world record after setting a Turkish record. The 17-year-old Yunus Emre, a student at Sakarya Sports High School, who started athletics at the age of 11 in 2020 at his father's guidance; achieved success in the U14, U16, and U18 Turkish championships.
Yunus Emre, who competed in his first international event at the U18 Balkan Athletics Championships held in Slovenia, won a gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles race with a time of 13.32.
Yunus Emre finished first in the men's 110-meter hurdles final at the U18 European Athletics Championships, held in Italy from July 16-19, breaking the Turkish record with a time of 13.08. Civelek also earned the title of the first Turkish athlete to win a gold medal in this category.
Yunus Emre, who continues his training with his coach Nilüfer Özen Aslantepe, aims to break the world record of 12.75 in the men's 110-meter hurdles category, currently held by American Ja'Kobe Tharp, and to compete in the Olympics.
Yunus Emre Civelek stated that he started sports at his family's guidance. Civelek noted that sports positively affected his development and expressed that his successes in the U14, U16, and U18 competitions in athletics in Turkey paved the way for him.
He said that he won a gold medal with a time of 13.32 in the 110-meter hurdles at the U18 Balkan Athletics Championships, which was his first international competition. Civelek stated that he won a gold medal by breaking the Turkish record with a time of 13.08 in the 110-meter hurdles final at the U18 European Athletics Championships in Italy, and said, "My coach Nilüfer and I prepared for this championship for a long time. We trained at an intense pace 6 days a week. To qualify for the European Championships, you need to compete in Turkey. By competing, I improved my times, went to the European Championships as the top qualifier, and finished first there too."
Civelek, stating that they had a great championship process, waved the crescent and star flag, and sang the National Anthem, said, "I owe this success to my coach; I reached these heights thanks to her. If it weren't for her, I could never have done it because she constantly took care of me, we were always together, training."
Expressing his happiness at breaking the Turkish record, Civelek said, "My name is written there. Of course, those who come after will break my record, but ultimately, I will also be written into history."
Civelek, stating that he aims to improve his times, said, "By working hard for many years, I became a European and Balkan champion, and I broke the Turkish record. My goal is to break the world record and go to the Olympics."
His coach Nilüfer Özen Aslantepe stated that they have been working with Yunus Emre since 2020. Aslantepe expressed her pride in her athlete, saying, "Yunus Emre has a special quality; he believes strongly and is very ambitious. Even if there's something he can't do, he pushes himself hard for it. He went into the final race saying, 'I will have our National Anthem played, and I will win the gold medal,' and believing strongly. It happened just as he said. He competed beautifully and brought pride to our country and our Sakarya."
Aslantepe, stating that they are climbing the ladder of success step by step, noted that she believes her athlete will represent Turkey in the best possible way by running in the final at next year's U20 European Athletics Championships. Aslantepe also added that they aim to participate in the Olympics to be held in Australia in 2032.
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