Go Türkiye! What’s driving our sporting revolution

A few bare facts first: Türkiye has an estimated 12.89 million people in the 15-24 age group, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), making up 15.4 percent of the total population. And this makes Türkiye the youngest country in Europe—a nation filled with vim and vigour.

No wonder, Türkiye is witnessing a sporting revolution over the past few years as the country channels its youth power onto the track and field, the boxing ring, the football ground, the volleyball courts and anything that drives competition.  

What has also helped is the government’s move to integrate education with sports, helping young people receive sports education from an early age. For this purpose, sports high schools were founded in 72 cities while 20 new sports high schools will be opened in the future.

Investing in the future

Türkiye’s rich dividends in international competitions in recent times are invariably a result of its big investments in sports. 

The number of football fields, which was 595 before 2002, increased to 1,365 as of 2011. Between 2002 and 2022, the number of sports venues increased to 904 from 372. 

And the total number of medals won by Turkish athletes in international tournaments, including the Olympics, increased to a staggering 8,808 as of 2019, up from 1,117 in 2000. 

From January to June 2022, Turkish athletes have won a total of 2079 medals with 569 gold, 644 silver, and 866 bronze in 34 different branches of the international competitions.

With the contribution of the new facilities, the number of licensed athletes and sports clubs too increased significantly. Between 2002 and 2021, the number of licensed athletes dramatically rose from 278,046 to 10,116,401. By 2021, Türkiye had 1,665,969 active athletes. The number of sports clubs, which was 6,035 in 2002, increased three times in 20 years to reach 18,977.

One of the biggest sporting successes for the country in recent times came when the national women’s volleyball team was placed third to earn a podium finish at the 2021 European Championship. 

The tournament had seen Türkiye’s sports lovers glued to their TV screens during live coverage of the matches. Throughout the tournament, the matches were viewed on big screens in public places that were set up by local authorities in response to the enthusiasm of volleyball lovers throughout the country. 

So much so that the Türkiye vs Poland game in the tournament had double the number of TV viewers than the more popular Turkish national football team’s game taking place on the same day. 

The reason for the difference was not just the recent failures of the national football team but also an increasing interest in volleyball. All of these are important symbolic indicators of the beginning of a new era for Türkiye, which is generally known as a country of football lovers.

The success of the volleyball team had sparked celebrations online, sparking memes and becoming a trending topic on match days.

Spiking interest

Of all the sports, volleyball has undoubtedly become the most successful team sport in Türkiye, leading to increasing popularity among the youth.

Talented and well-known volleyball players from different countries moved to Turkish teams while big companies and public banks such as Vakifbank, Halkbank, and Eczacibasi made investments in volleyball by building competitive squads to secure trophies in international tournaments. 

In May 2022, VakifBank won the 2022 CEV Women's Champions League Volley after defeating Italian team Imoco Volley 3-1 in the final. It was their fifth CEV Women's Champions League title.

Interest in women’s volleyball spiked during the 2020 Olympics when the national team reached the quarterfinals, beating defending champion China en route.

According to the survey conducted in the summer of 2021 (June 10-September 10, 2021), there has been a 170 percent increase in news coverage of volleyball to the same period in 2020. 

According to the data of Armut.com, people requested 123 percent more private volleyball lessons in August 2021, compared to August 2020. 

Moreover, it is possible to observe the increase in the love of volleyball from the number of spectators in the sports halls and the ratings on YouTube. For example, the final stage game between Fenerbahce Opet and VakifBank, which was broadcast on YouTube in May, was watched by nearly 600.000 users.

Other sports

But it’s not just teams which are driving Turkish sporting achievements.

In December 2021, Emre Sakci became one of the most successful Turkish swimmers by breaking the world record with a time of 24.95 seconds in the men’s 50-metre breaststroke short course. 

In recent years, significant successes have come in gymnastics as well. Turkish gymnasts won six medals with two gold, two silver and two bronze medals at the 2022 Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup held in Croatia.

Türkiye now also has talented athletes in boxing as one of them won a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics when Busenaz Surmeneli defeated her Chinese opponent Hong Gu in the women's 69 kg final.

Mete Gazoz, 23, is also one of the most successful Olympic athletes to have played for Türkiye, winning individual gold in men’s archery in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. World-famous writer Paulo Coelho dedicated his latest book to Mete Gazoz and announced it in a Twitter post.

Even as football remains the country’s most popular sport, Türkiye is today on the cusp of a revolution as youngsters seek glory in other sports, seeking motivation and inspiration from those who came before.

The drum roll of honour is only going to get louder. And more frequent.