Wonderkid seeks to win Olympic berth

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Vercihan Ziflioğlu

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Hailed as one of the most promising athletes in his generation, 18-year-old Toros Pilikoğlu wants to duplicate the determination of his Armenian ancestors and represent Turkey at the 2012 Olympics in London

Toros Pilikoğlu, a Turkish athlete of Armenian descent, has many records in the short long jump and sprint races in youth categories.

Toros Pilikoğlu wants to represent Turkey in the Olympics, just like his Armenian ancestors did a century ago.

The 18-year-old sprinter and long jumper, a Turkish citizen of Armenian descent, has set his sights on the 2012 Olympic Games in London. If he can win a berth at the biggest event in world sports, he will being following in the footsteps of two Armenian athletes who competed in the 1912 Swedish Olympics to represent the Ottoman Empire.

Pilikoğlu has several national records to his name and has been called one of the hottest athletes of his generation. He plays down the accolades, however, saying he is only getting started.

“I have done nothing yet; I am aiming for more. It is [a source of] great pride for me to represent Turkey. My entire family was born on this land; I feel I belong to this land,” the athlete told the Hürriyet Daily News.

Turkey was represented by two Ottoman citizens of Armenian descent during the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm. Athletes Vahram Papazyan and Mıgırdiç Mıgıryan, however, had little support from the state and participated in the Olympics through their own means.

“I am also trying to do what they did 100 years ago,” said Pilikoğlu, who holds numerous national and international titles and has been dubbed the “Flying Man.”

Also like his predecessors, though, Pilikoğlu faces financial challenges. He said state grants provided to successful athletes in Turkey are insufficient, making it more difficult for them to compete in international contests.

Pilikoğlu’s achievements are backed by Aram Kalender, an Armenian businessman, according to the trainer and school teacher who had been working with the young athlete for the past 11 years.

“Toros has attained incredible achievements despite his young age. There has never been a track and field athlete who participated in the Olympics at the age of 18 in Turkey’s history. We are expecting support from the state,” said trainer Hakan Günartan.

He added that the government provides 500 Turkish Liras worth of grants each month to successful athletes for their dietary needs, a figure the trainer said was insufficient.

“Each athlete has [to follow] a special dietary procedure; that is a great expenditure. Health expenses are another important issue. Our athletes are unfortunately deprived of this right,” Günartan said.

“I cannot cover my physiotherapy expenses. I try to heal myself at home. The health expenditures of successful athletes around the world are taken care of by their countries,” Pilikoğlu said.

The athlete’s track titles include first place in the 23rd Junior Games in Finland, where he completed the 100-meter event in 11.88 seconds, and a Balkan championship where he finished the 100-meter event in 10.77 seconds.

“Toros was quite different than other students; he was full of beans, he was ambitious. I used to think this kid could make it big, and that’s what happened. He became the Turkish champion with 12.0 seconds in the 100-meter race for [runners] 15 years old and under, the first competition he entered,” Günartan said.

Pilikoğlu was barely 12 years old when he won that title.

Günartan discovered Pilikoğlu at the age of seven, while he was working at the Kalfayan Private Primary School owned by the Armenian community in Istanbul’s Üsküdar district.

“I, too, was a skilled athlete, but I could not transcend Turkey’s borders as I lacked a guide, and my achievements have remained at a national level. I am transmitting all my experience unto him, I am showing him the way,” Günartan said. “I want him to succeed where I could not succeed myself – something he has already done. Now our goal is the Olympics.”

Pilikoğlu said running is his passion and that he takes great care in his personal life not to fall out of form, refraining from drinking alcohol and partaking in nightlife as many of his peers do and instead leading a life full of sports.

“This is a matter of choice, I do not feel as if I am missing anything. Running is the only important thing for me,” he said. “I become completely severed from life when I am running; I hear no sounds. I lock on my goal, head on. I would not succeed if I heard or thought about [anything else].”

Participating in international competitions and winning titles there has boosted Pilikoğlu’s self-confidence. “I would like to reach overseas in the future,” he added. “I would like to receive training abroad. This will develop my skills in many respects.”