It was the last one and suddenly boom. He went down in the history of the Games and became a hero

Turkish athletes did not achieve great success at the Winter Olympics. Throughout the history of the event, they did not bring any medal to the country. That is why the local fans are happy about every good result. During the event in Beijing, the hero is an unknown 19-year-old Furkan Akar, who competes in short-track.

The goal of the first ever Turkish Olympics was the quarter-final in the competition over a distance of 1000 meters, and we managed to achieve it. In it, however, an unprecedented situation occurred. Akar was in the last, fifth place. But on the last bend, the first three competitors turned over and Turek was second to the finish line. The whole situation was reminiscent of the famous 2002 Olympic short track final, when Australian Steven Bradbury won the gold. In addition, the competitor who reached the finish line before Akar was punished by the judges, so in the final classification it was Turek who took the first place and advanced to the final.

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In the semi-finals, Akar was in the top eight and unexpectedly advanced to the B-final. And in it he also managed not to finish in the last place. He overtook the American Andrew Heo, and also Shaolin Sandor z (he even reached the finish line first, but then he was punished for mistakes on the track and lost the gold). In the end, Akar took sixth place.

He finished sixth at the Games and became a hero in his country

– I am going to Beijing to become a hero – said the young Turk before the Olympics. And he kept his word. The local media write that it was the best performance of a Turkish athlete in the history of the Winter Games. – Really faith is half the battle. I finished the competition as the sixth competitor of the Olympics. Could there be a medal? Yes, but we were just getting started. Before me another Olympic Games and many races. I hope that I will occupy high positions – he told an interview with the Turkish agency Anadolu.

The 19-year-old commented on his lucky promotion to the semi-finals after his rivals capsized. – We agreed on such a tactic with my trainer. I preferred to drive calmly in the back, Akar said.

We are very happy. Our pupil achieved a very important success. Above all, he is a very young athlete, as is the whole team, said Goekhan Oezdemir, president of the Turkish ice skating federation. He added that he hopes for medals at the next Olympics.

The gold and silver medal in the short track went to the Chinese. Ziwei Ren won over Wenlong Li. The bronze was won by Shaoang Liu, representing Hungary.