Sports Ministry uses US swimmer Vollmer’s picture in poster with ‘photoshopped’ Turkish flag

ISTANBUL

The Youth and Sports Ministry has used a picture of U.S. gold medalist swimmer Dana Vollmer in one of its posters but digitally changed the U.S. flag on her cap with a Turkish one, daily Sözcü reported on July 6.

The poster, hung at the entrance of the Burhan Felek Closed Pool in the Üsküdar district of Istanbul, featured Vollmer in action, but with the flag on her cap replaced by a Turkish flag. The name on the cap was left untouched.

The poster also had “Powerful Turkey” written above the swimmer’s image on the logo of the ministry.

Keen-eyed sports lovers spotted the move and criticized the ministry’s choice of using an American swimmer instead of one of the many Turkish swimmers who have represented the country in the Olympics and other competitions.

Vollmer has won 19 gold medals, eight silver medals, and five bronze medals in the Olympics, the World Championships, the Pan American Games, the Pan Pacific Championships, and the Goodwill Games.