Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mansur Yavaş met with the athletes of ASKİ and EGO Spor who will participate in the Tokyo Olympics. Stating that he trusts the athletes from the capital, Yavaş gave the good news of the new sports fields to be brought to Ankara and the İlhan Cavcav Amateur Sports Facility.
Metropolitan Municipality ASKİ and EGO Sports Clubs qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with 18 athletes.
Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mansur Yavaş met with 7 athletes from ASKİ Sports Club and 11 athletes from EGO Sports Club before the Olympics. ASKİ Sports President Yüksel Arslan, EGO Sports Club President Akın Hondoroğlu, athletes and coaches attended the program held at Mogan Park Guest House.
SLOW: “WE HAVE NO DOUBT THAT THEY WILL RETURN SUCCESSFULLY”
Stating that he believes the athletes of the capital city will achieve significant success in the Olympics, Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş said, “Ankara Metropolitan Municipality has been involved in sports since 1985. So far medals have been won, various degrees have been made. They brought medals to our country in the World, Europe and Olympic Championships. Now we have no doubt that they will return successfully.”
In his speech, Yavaş underlined that young people should be directed towards sports and gave the good news that they will establish 15 new sports centers:
“Today, there are important problems that our country is grappling with. One is drug addiction and the other is phone and computer addiction. It's really hard to get young people off of these. Both the government and the Ministry of National Education are trying to combat them, but we, as local administrators, need to take responsibility in this regard and work to encourage young people in all districts of Ankara to participate in sports and to do something. It was among our promises to make Ankara livable 24 hours a day and for people to do sports in all of the districts. There is something like this in recent years; the right of people to do sports, recognized in all developed countries. In addition to such essential duties of a municipality as transportation and water, it is necessary to ensure that people do sports. When the right to do sports is mentioned, the right to do sports in the nearest place to his home, that is, this opportunity should be given to him. In our examination, we found 25 sports fields. Hopefully, we will lay the foundation for 15 of them this year. Therefore, by increasing both the youth and the parks and recreation areas in the districts, we will enable everyone to do sports in the area closest to their home.”
İLHAN CAVCAV AMATEUR SPORTS FACILITY PROMISE FROM YAVAŞ
Answering the questions of the members of the press during his meeting with the athletes, Yavaş stated that amateur sports clubs should be supported and made the following statements:
“We supported the Amateur Sports Clubs. We are in contact with them. We will give the administration of some of our 15 sports facilities, the foundation of which I just mentioned, to amateur sports clubs. I hope the new 19 May Stadium will be built as soon as possible. We had the promise of an İlhan Cavcav Amateur Sports Facility that would benefit the associations of amateur sports clubs if we could find a place next to it if it was built. Hopefully we will do that too.”
Yavaş also called on all citizens in Ankara to do sports and said, “We are trying to build areas suitable for this. In all of the areas we do, there are areas where people can work in various branches of walking, jogging and sports. There is no concrete-based construction in our parks either. We create simple environments where anyone can walk and anyone can ride a bike. We really want people to go with their family and do sports. We will expand this,” he said.
THANKS TO THE PRESIDENT YAVAS FROM ATHLETES AND TRAINERS
Expressing that Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş continues to support sports and athletes, ASKİ Sports Club President Yüksel Arslan said, “I thank our President. I wish our athletes success in the Olympics," he said.
EGO Sports Club President Akın Hondoroğlu said, “With the appointment of the Metropolitan Mayor, Mr. Mansur Yavaş, EGO Sports Club has become one of the largest clubs in the world with 35 branches and 8 thousand athletes. As of now, we are participating in the Tokyo Olympics with 10 athletes. We thank our chairman, Mr. Mansur Yavaş, who is the architect of these successes, for the support he has given us”.
Athletes and coaches traveling to Tokyo Olympics emphasized that they prepared well for the Olympics and said:
-Taha Akgül (Wrestling Freestyle 125 kg): “As a team, we are ready as a team. We have our last camp, wrestling training. The psychology that brings success in the Olympics… Those who can lift this atmosphere are successful. We have had this experience many times before. Here I would like to thank our president very much. Since the day he took office, he embraced the sports players in Ankara with a unifying and embracing attitude, with a supra-political approach. The value of our club is increasing day by day. He allocated us a very nice wrestling hall. Maybe we have the most modern hall in the history of wrestling in Turkey. He gave priority to us in such economic difficulties. We are grateful to him.”
-Rıza Kayaalp (Wrestling Grekorman Style 130 kg): “This is my fourth Olympics. In one, we saw the bottom as Taha said, in one I got a bronze medal, in another I got a silver medal. I hope the fourth one will get a gold medal. Of course, we did not come here alone. We came with the support offered to us. May Allah be pleased with him, our President Mansur is now offering these supports to us. After each championship, we want to use our talents to bring a new one to our country. I want to return to my country by winning the only gold medal in my career in these Olympics.”
-Abdullah Çakmar (ASKİ Sports Club General Coordinator): “We would like to thank you for bringing the athletes, technical team and valuable managers together with us by organizing such an organization. As all our teachers and athletes have said, we are ready. With the permission of my Lord, with your prayers, we will do what is necessary to put a smile on the face of our nation and return to our country with the best result.”
-Savas Yıldırım (ASKİ Sports Athletic Director): “We are trying to help our ASKİ Sports Club, our valuable champions, our teachers and our club president. We continue our unity and solidarity in a way that is worthy of you everywhere.”
-Akif Canbaş (Greco-Roman Wrestling National Team Coach): “The most important thing for us from now on is morale. Standing in the same corner with our champions and coaching them is both easy and in some ways difficult. We have 2 heavyweight champions like Aslan. We prepared mentally and technically for the Olympics. Thank you for the morale you have given us.”
-Suleyman Karadeniz (Wrestling Freestyle 97 kg): “Thank you so much for providing this organization for us. We will represent Turkey and ASKİ Sports Club in the best way possible at the Olympics. I hope we will meet again in such a nice organization when we return with good results.”
-Levent Yaman (Boxing Trainer): “We will participate in the Tokyo Olympic Games with a total of 3 athletes, 3 women and 6 men, representing our country in the boxing branch. One of these athletes is within the body of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality ASKİ Sports Club. Our young athlete will represent our country at the Tokyo Olympic Games for the first time. I wish him and our National Team good luck. Hopefully we will return with good results.”
-Raif Special (Weightlifting Coach): “In Turkey, ASKİ Sports Club and clubs affiliated to other municipalities lead the amateur sports clubs. Therefore, it has become an icon especially in wrestling and weightlifting branches. We are in favor of continuing this success. Thanks to the support you have given us, I believe that Yüksel Bey and Abdullah Hoca, together with their interest in this issue, will carry Turkish weightlifting to a better level.”
- Süleyman Atlı (Wrestling Freestyle 57 kg): “It was a morale booster for us that you brought us together with such an organization before the Olympics. We had a very good preparation period. On behalf of my teammates and myself, we are going to the Olympics ready. Thank you very much for the support you have given us so far. You have always made us feel your support both financially and morally and you did not leave us alone. I hope we will represent our country in the best way possible at the Olympics.”
-Muhammed Furkan Özbek (Barbell 67 kg): "I am 20 years old. It will be my first time to participate in the Olympics. Really there, those who can handle that psychology will bring success. Hopefully, I want to crown my first Olympics with a medal. Hopefully, we'll come back with a medal and meet again."
-Necat Ekinci (Boxing 69 kg): “We don't have medals in the Olympics. Hopefully we will break this bad luck this year. I am the first athlete to participate in the Olympics with boxing on behalf of our club. Hopefully, we will represent both our club and our country in the best way and return with a medal.”
EGO Aerobic Gymnastics World Champion Ayşe Begüm Onbaşı, one of the athletes who recently returned to Ankara with gold medals, also attended the meeting and said, “We have the European Championship ahead of us. Before the Olympics, I had the chance to meet my brothers Taha Akgül and Rıza Kayaalp. We trust them with all our heart. We believe they will do their best. The Olympics did not happen for us, but I hope we will be prepared in 2024. We are looking at the upcoming competitions” and wished success to his fellow Olympic passengers.
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