Atakan Alaftargil (born November 9, 1976) is a retired Olympian

alpine skier Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether ...

from

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, who competed in slalom and

giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding competitive discipline. It involves racing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in Slalom skiing, slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant sl ...

events.

Early life

Atakan Alaftargil was born on November 9, 1976, in

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...

, Turkey. He is a member of a skiing family, his father İlhani having owned a ski equipment store at

Palandöken Mountain Palandöken Mountain (or shortly Palandöken) is a high tectonic mountain in Erzurum Province, Turkey. The summit is at a distance of only from Erzurum city center, which itself extends at an elevation of . Skiing On the road from Erzurum to ...

and his three older brothers being skiers. His older brother Arif Alaftargil competed at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

in Nagano, Japan. He began skiing at the age of six. He graduated from

Atatürk University Atatürk University () is a public land-grant research university established in 1957 in Erzurum, Turkey, in collaboration with the University of Nebraska. The university comprises 23 faculties, 18 colleges, 8 institutes, and 30 research cente ...

with a degree in physical education and sports. He is also a certified coach for skiing and snow boarding.

Career

He competed for Turkey at the 2002 Winter Olympics after participating at the 2001 World Alpine Ski Championships in St. Anton,

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

References

External links

* * 1976 births People from Erzurum Atatürk University alumni Turkish male alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers for Turkey Alpine skiers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Living people 20th-century Turkish sportsmen {{Turkey-alpine-skiing-bio-stub