Yasemin Can (born Vivian Jemutai on 11 December 1996) is a Kenyan female long distance runner representing

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 specialises in the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

and

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The ...

. She is the reigning 10,000 m European champion. Can is a six-time European Championship medalist, including three gold medals and the 5000 m/10,000 m double in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, and a four-time European Cross Country champion. She competed for Kenya before 13 March 2016, when she officially became eligible to represent Turkey at international competitions. Can is the Turkish record holder for the

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

, and the Turkish indoor record holder for the 3000 m and 5000 m. She is a two-time Turkish champion.

Career

Can earned a quota spot for the women's 5000 m event in the 2016 Rio Olympics running 15:08.46 at the Turkish Indoor Championships in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. She secured another quota spot for the 10,000 m event running 31:30.58 at the Turkish Championships in

Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...

. She set a new European under-23 record with her time. She took part at the

Golden Gala Golden Gala is an annual Track and field, track and field event normally held at the Stadio Olimpico, Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. Following the 2013 deat ...

leg of 2016 IAAF Diamond League in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy, and placing sixth in the 5000 m in a time of 14:37.61. Can won the gold medal in the women's 10,000 m at the

2016 European Athletics Championships The 2016 European Athletics Championships was held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, between 6 and 10 July 2016. It was the first time the Netherlands hosted the event. Due to 2016 being an Olympic year, there was no racewalking and the marathon competi ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Netherlands. Her time of 31:12.86 improved her own European U23 record by 18 seconds. She won her second gold medal in the 5000 m at the same championship. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, she was a finalist in the fastest 10,000 m race in the history, placing seventh with a personal best time of 30:26.41. On 5 March 2017, Can won a silver medal in the 3000 m at the

2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held between 3 and 5 March 2017 at the Kombank Arena in Belgrade, Serbia. This was the second time this event was held in the city after the 1969 European Indoor Games, 1969 edition then known a ...

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

behind

Laura Muir Laura Muir (; born 9 May 1993) is a Scottish Middle-distance running, middle- and Long-distance running, long-distance runner. She is the Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics, 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in the 1500 metres, having prev ...

. Can won gold medals in the women's 10,000 m and 5000 m at the

2017 European Athletics U23 Championships The 2017 European Athletics U23 Championships were the 11th edition of the biennial athletics competition between European athletes under the age of twenty-three. It was held in Bydgoszcz, Poland from 13 to 16 July. This was the second time that ...

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

, Poland. In 2020, she competed in the women's half marathon at the 2020 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships held in

Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...

, Poland. On 15 August 2022, Can won the gold medal and regained her European 10,000 m title at Munich 2022, finishing in a time of 30:32.57. She placed second in the 5000 m behind Konstanze Klosterhalfen and ahead of Eilish McColgan three days later.

Achievements

International competitions

¹Did not finish in the final

Personal bests

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000 m sho ...

indoor – 8:43.46 (

2017) *

– 14:36.82 (

2017) ** 5000 metres indoor – 15:08.46 (

2016) *

– 30:26.41 (

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

2016) ;Road * 5 km – 15:23 (

Herzogenaurach Herzogenaurach (; ) is a town in the district of Erlangen-Höchstadt, in Bavaria, Germany. It is home to two major international sporting goods companies, Adidas and Puma, and Schaeffler Group, a car parts manufacturer. Geography Herzogenaura ...

2021) * 10 km – 32:01 ( Chon Buri 2020) *

Half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

– 1:06:20 (

2020)

National titles

* Turkish Athletics Championships **

: 2016 * Turkish Indoor Athletics Championships **

: 2016

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Can, Yasemin 1996 births Living people Kenyan female long-distance runners Kenyan female cross country runners Turkish female long-distance runners Turkish female cross country runners Turkish mountain runners Kenyan emigrants to Turkey Naturalized citizens of Turkey Enkaspor athletes European Cross Country Championships winners European Athletics Championships winners European champions for Turkey Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Turkey Medalists at the 2015 Summer Universiade Olympic female long-distance runners Olympic athletes for Turkey Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games competitors for Turkey Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Turkey Mediterranean Games gold medalists in athletics Competitors at the 2018 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 2022 Mediterranean Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Mediterranean Games Islamic Solidarity Games gold medalists for Turkey Islamic Solidarity Games medalists in athletics Medalists at the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games Sportspeople from Nairobi Turkish Athletics Championships winners