Special Olympics World Summer Games

2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games / Athens

7000 special athletes from 180 countries competed in 22 sports branches during the 13^th Special Olympics World Summer Games held from June 25 to July 4, 2011 in Athens, the capital city of Greece. The 36 special athletes representing Turkey who won the first award in basketball, volleyball, swimming, football, athletics, gymnastics and table tennis branches have been entitled to the “Sakip Sabanci Sports Award”.

Below is the list of award-winning athletes:

Football	Ahmet Colak		Basketball	Besna Sosyal
Football	Bekir Kuran		Basketball	Bilge M. Kocak
Football	Burak Korkmaz		Basketball	Cansu Turgut
Football	Duran Elmali		Basketball	Ebru Demir
Football	Ekrem Kara		Basketball	Eda Gologlu
Football	Isa Gumus		Basketball	Elif Genc
Football	Mustafa Sunbul		Basketball	Ferda Yalar
Football	Sabri Erten		Basketball	Gokce Gungor
Football	Samet Tanriover		Basketball	Zeynep Turan
Football	Sergen Ustun		Volleyball	Aydin Horzum
Football	Sezgin Balaban		Volleyball	Mahmut Keyik
Football	Sinan Albas		Volleyball	Oguzhan Tursucu
Football	Yalcin Kavra		Volleyball	Ramazan Altun
Football	Yasin Kiraz		Volleyball	Savas Turgay
Football	Yunus Akkas		Volleyball	Sahin Diker
Table Tennis	Erhan Ulker		Athletics	Ayhan Aydin
Table Tennis	Mustafa Duduoglu		Athletics	Tugba Eskin
Swimming	Omercan Karsilikli		Gymnastics	Burhan Arinik

In her statement pertaining to the 2011 Sports Award, the General Manager of the Sabanci Foundation Zerrin Koyunsagan remarked as follows: “We recognize the achievements in the fields of education, arts and sports through the award programs put into place by late Sakip Sabanci and upheld each year by the Sabanci Foundation. Contributing to Turkish sports and supporting our athletes is a source of great pride for us as much as for our athletes. Our special athletes who made it to the top rank in Special Olympics are solid proof that the power of sports knows no barriers. We firmly believe that our athletes will continue to represent our country in international organizations and carry their feats to the future with the support of the Sabanci Foundation”.

2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games / Shanghai

A total of 62 special athletes represented Turkey in athletics, basketball, volleyball, football, table tennis, bowling, gymnastics and swimming disciplines during the Special Olympics World Summer Games held from October 1 to 11, 2007 in Shanghai, China. During the games where approximately 7000 athletes from more than 150 countries competed, Turkish athletes won 15 gold medals, 22 silver medals and 18 bronze medals which add up to 55 medals in total.

Below is the list of athletes who received their awards from Murat Basesgioglu, State Minister responsible for Youth and Sports, and Dilek Sabanci, Member of Sabanci Foundation Board of Trustees, through a ceremony held at Metin Sabanci Rehabilitation, Education and Productivity Center for Spastic Children on May 16, 2008:

Athletics	Veysel Tuvgan		Swimming	Huseyin Akgoz
Athletics	Filiz Polat		Swimming	Ozden Turanli
Bowling	Gizem Palabiyik		Swimming	Nazan Cacan
Bowling	Izlem Kaynak		Swimming	Ismail Cem Aksu
Bowling	Baris Dilekli		Swimming	Durducan Dostum Nevruz
Bowling	Ozer Yigiter

Dilek Sabanci who delivered a speech during the ceremony underlined that she was happy to take over the mission of her father, the late Sakip Sabanci, and remarked as follows: “With the support of Sabanci Foundation, I would like to execute the will of my father and confer these awards to our Olympics champions whom we take great pride in. This award which bears the name of Sakip Sabanci is not only an award honoring the achievements of our athletes with disabilities but also an expression of our gratitude  for their feat and for the pride they have bestowed us”.

Athletes who won the Sakip Sabanci Sports Award in Special Olympics World Summer Games between 1995-2004

2004 Special Olympics World Summer Games

Swimming	Reha Arzu Bahtiyar
Swimming	Erdoğan Sarali
Athletics	İlknur Çetinkaya
Athletics	Seher Uzun
Athletics	Sezer Koşucu
Artistic Gymnastics	Berk Canbulat

2000 Special Olympics World Summer Games

Swimming	Reha Arzu Bahtiyar
Artistic Gymnastics	Berk Canbulat
Athletics	Erol Onbasioglu
Athletics	Hakan Irmak
Artistic Gymnastics	Hasibe Korkmaz
Athletics	Nurettin Gurbuz
Artistic Gymnastics	Ozden Turanli
Artistic Gymnastics	Ramazan Kocabas
Swimming	Salih Genc
Athletics	Yasar Guven
Athletics	Zekiye Emre
Swimming	Erdem Murat Renda
Swimming	İrem Uyanik
Athletics	Gulcin Karandere

1999 Special Olympics World Summer Games

Long Jump	Aykut Bora Gozukara
Artistic Gymnastics	Celal Ilhan
Artistic Gymnastics	Erdogan Erdag
Swimming	Hande Ozyer
Table tennis	Mustafa Duduoglu
Running-Shot	Ozcan Altun
Running	Ozkan Karamahmutoglu
Running	Yasar Guven
Running	Fatih Turkmen
Running	Meltem Ozkan
Running	Bora Tokmakcioglu
Running	Zeki Elik

1995 Special Olympics World Summer Games

Athletics	Serif Cetiner
Athletics	Erdogan Adadan
Athletics	Ozkan Karamahmutoglu
Athletics	Fatih Yazgoren
Athletics	Mehmet Kayhan
Athletics	Ozgur Okumus
Swimming	Emre Kaplayan
Swimming	Murat Akin
Swimming	Bora Tokmakcioglu
Swimming	Emin Dogan