Ekrem Koçak (18 May 1931 – 12 June 1993) was a Turkish

middle distance runner Middle Distance Runner was an American indie rock band from Washington, D.C. Middle Distance Runner was founded in 1998, but the band didn't play a live show until 2005, shortly before the release of their debut album. The group was an early succ ...

who competed in the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

and in the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

. He won the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

and Balkan Games.

Career

He started his career in Ankara Demirspor in 1947. He was elected to the Fenerbahçe S.K. Istanbul in 1949. He won two silver medals at 1,500 and 3,000 metres at the 1949 Eastern Mediterranean Games. In 1950, he set a record of 3:58:5 at 1,500 meter. He finished third at 800 meter at the first major international competition, the 1951 Mediterranean Games. He won the Balkan Championships in 1955 at the 800 meter in 1953, 1954, 1955 and 1961. He won the gold medal at 800 m and at the Mediterranean Games at 800 m and at 1,500 m. He scored the best in Barcelona with a score of 1:50,0 (27 July 1955) and at 1,500 m in Sofia (May 24, 1960). Having finished in 1966, he was the champion of the Balkans, 6 times in the Balkan world, and 2 times Mediterranean games champion, and 24 Turkish records and became nationalized more than 500 times. He won 13 Istanbul and 8 Turkish championships while part of Fenerbahçe. After quitting running, his veins were found to be blocked due to lacquer growth and his left leg was voluntarily amputated. Koçak's name was attached to the athletic track at Burhan Felek Sports Complex in 1995, found in Istanbul.

References

1931 births 1993 deaths Turkish male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes for Turkey Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Turkey Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Turkey Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1955 Mediterranean Games 20th-century Turkish sportsmen Place of birth missing {{Turkey-athletics-bio-stub