Türkiye bags most medals in Islamic Solidarity Games

KONYA

Türkiye has bagged a whopping 265 medals in the fifth Islamic Solidarity Games being held in the Central Anatolian province of Konya, while the Turkish men’s national U23 football team has become the champion of the tournament recently.

Turkish athletes have gained 106 gold, 89 silver and 70 bronze medals as of early Aug. 17 in the games, which will conclude on Aug. 18 with a closing ceremony.

Uzbekistan is a runner-up with 121 medals, and Iran sits in the third row with 116 medals.

Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan come next with 71 medals.

Among the 55 participant countries, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Comoro Islands, Gabon, Guiana, Iraq, Mali, Mozambique, Mauritania, Somali, Surinam and Chad sat at the bottom of the list with no medals.

Some eight national teams will return to their countries, Albania, Guinea, Togo, Benin, Guinea-Bissau, the Maldives, Sierra Leone and Yemen, with one medal each.

Türkiye bagged its latest gold medals in football, with its U23 team becoming the champion. Türkiye, which beat Azerbaijan in the semifinals, came face to face with Saudi Arabia in the finals.

Turkish footballers reached the trophy with a 1-0 win. Turkish Youth and Sports Minister Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoğlu took a selfie with the national team members after the ceremony.

Konya hosted some 6,000 people, including some 4,000 international athletes, in the games that started on Aug. 9.

The fourth Islamic Solidarity Games were held in Azerbaijan between May 12 and 22, 2017. Türkiye ranked second in the event after Azerbaijan with a total of 195 medals, 71 gold, 67 silver and 57 bronze.