Turk athletes prove big fish in small Med pond

The Turkish athlete of Ethiopian origin, who has two silver Olympic medals in her collection, was a clear favorite already, and did not break much of a sweat during the race, where she finished in 31 minutes, 51 seconds, 98 hundreths, more than half a minute faster than Olivera Jevtic of Serbia, while Algerian Kenza Tifani Dahmani followed from about a minute distance.

The race was actually good for showing how pale of an organization the Mediterranean Games have become. The multi-sport event held every four years, mainly for nations bordering the Mediterranean Sea, where Europe, Africa and Asia meet, used to have a strong tradition, but year after year, its significance dimmed.

Atilla Gökçe, a columnist for daily Milliyet, wrote yesterday that Elvan’s participation in the Games in Pescara, Italy was pointless, especially while she had to interrupt her preparations for the World Athletics Championship in Erzurum in eastern Turkey. "Elvan had to give a two-day break to her practices to fly to Pescara," wrote Gökçe. "She raced with Olivera Jevtic and Kenza Dahmani, so a bronze medal was guaranteed, even if she walked. What difference would that make if she won a gold in a race for three, or she did not? Was it worth it?"

Another odd competition at the games was seen in wrestling, when Fatih Çakıroğlu made only one match on his short and unwinding road to victory, because there were only two names in the 120-kilograms list.

"Winner of a tournament that had only two wrestlers," Gökçe wrote sarcastically. "Good for him. But I should say, like a brother, I don’t recommend him to be too happy about being a champion!"

The Mediterranean Games, bringing countries from three continents, fail to hold the same meaning for participants as it used to two decades ago. While similar regional competitions, Pan American Games, Asian Games or All-Africa Games manage to sustain higher credibility in the sports scene, Mediterranean Games failed to draw high-profile athletes and bore less significance within every edition.

An argument that Europe already has its top-level championships, so it does not need to host another regional makes sense. Needless to say that most of the Mediterranean countries prefer their athletes compete in the European Championship or Golden League, which are incomparably more lucrative and prestigious events than the Mediterranean Games.

An important sign that the games were about to change was when the events were moved to the following year of the Olympics. Before 1993, it used to be organized a year before the world’s greatest sporting events, making it a platform for top athletes to put their performances to the test. After the switch, the Games became a place where lower-tier athletes, usually from college levels and promising youngsters compete. But not for Turkey, who went on "to see Mediterranean as a Turkish lake of medals," according to Gökçe.

However, Yunus Akgül, the head of the General Directorate of Youth and Sports, or GSGM, is not even satisfied despite the fact that Turkey invaded the games with a total of 338 athletes.



Better teams

Akgül criticized football and basketball federations because they did "not send good teams."

"I am a little sad because we did not come here with better teams," said Akgül, adding that Turkey could have won more medals in those branches.

There are not many reasons that Akgül should be sad, as Turkey is third on medal standings in Pescara. Turkish athletes collected 16 gold, 10 silver and 11 bronze medals, following leader Italy (25 gold, 29 silver, 31 bronze) and France (20 gold, 23 silver and 20 bronze) after the fifth day was completed in the Games.

Despite the sporting success, the tournament started poorly for Turkey, which threatened to pull out of the event due to organizational problems.

"All our athletes are having major problems," Akgül said Friday. "They cannot find a place for training. The accommodation facilities are terrible. Some of the rooms do not even have curtains."

Akgül said he had sent a letter of protest to the organization committee clearly stating that Turkey would not compete in the games if the conditions did not improve. Akgül then declared that there were some improvements, but still, it did not stop the Turkish squads from rescheduling their returns to their country. Instead of leaving Italy on July 6, when the events officially end, athletes started to return to Turkey as soon as their participation ended.

The first group returned on Tuesday, while the second group is expected to arrive in Istanbul today. On Sunday, Turkish athletes will have completed their return, and the 16th Mediterranean Games will go down in the country’s sports history with some bitter, some sweet and some ridiculous memories.