Mete Gazoz (born 8 June 1999 in Istanbul) is a Turkish recurve archer.[1] He won the gold medal in the men's individual event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan.[2] He also represented Turkey at the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the 2023 World Archery Championships held in Berlin, Mete Gazoz emerged victorious, claiming the prestigious Individual title. In an intense final, he triumphed over the skilled Canadian archer Eric Peters, securing his place as the first Turkish archer to achieve the esteemed recurve gold medal in a World Championship.

Mete Gazoz
Mete Gazoz, 2021
Personal information
NicknameGazoz
NationalityTurkish
Born (1999-06-08) 8 June 1999 (age 25)
Istanbul, Turkey
Height180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight60 kg (132 lb)
Sport
Country Turkey
SportArchery
Eventrecurve
Coached byYusuf Göktuğ Ergin
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking1 (23 May 2022)
Medal record
Men's recurve archery
Representing  Turkey
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 1 0 1
World Championships 1 1 1
European Championships 1 1 2
European Indoor Championships 0 0 1
World Cup 3 4 8
Mediterranean Games 2 1 1
Islamic Solidarity Games 1 1 1
World Indoor Championships 0 2 0
World Youth Championships 0 1 0
European Youth Championships 3 0 0
Total 12 11 15
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Paris Team
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2023 Berlin Individual
Silver medal – second place 2023 Berlin Team
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Yankton Mixed team
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2024 Essen Individual
Silver medal – second place 2016 Nottingham Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Munich Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Essen Team
European Indoor Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Samsun Team
World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2018 Berlin Individual
Gold medal – first place 2019 Berlin Individual
Gold medal – first place 2019 Berlin Team
Silver medal – second place 2018 Samsun Mixed team
Silver medal – second place 2018 Shanghai Mixed team
Silver medal – second place 2019 Shanghai Mixed team
Silver medal – second place 2019 Shanghai Team
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Antalya Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Berlin Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Antalya Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Antalya Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Yankton Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Paris Team
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Tlaxcala Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Shanghai Mixed team
Mediterranean Games
Gold medal – first place 2018 Tarragona Recurve Men
Gold medal – first place 2022 Oran Mixed team
Silver medal – second place 2022 Oran Individual
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Oran Team
Islamic Solidarity Games
Gold medal – first place 2021 Konya Team
Silver medal – second place 2021 Konya Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Konya Individual
World Indoor Championship
Silver medal – second place 2016 Ankara Junior Men team
Silver medal – second place 2018 Yankton Junior Men's individual
World Youth Championships
Silver medal – second place 2013 Wuxi Junior Men team
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Rosario Junior Mixed team
European Youth Championships
Gold medal – first place 2017 Porec Junior Men's individual
Gold medal – first place 2017 Marathon Junior Men's individual
Gold medal – first place 2017 Marathon Junior Men team
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Marathon Junior Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2018 Patras Junior Men's individual
Veronica’s Cup
Silver medal – second place 2017 Kamnik Team

Sports career

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Gazoz began Archery in 2010. The right-handed archer made his international debut in 2013.[3]

He won the silver medal in the Recurve Junior Men Team event at the 2013 World Archery Youth Championships in Wuxi, China. He participated in the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China,[4] in the 2015 European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan,[5] and in the 2015 World Archery Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.[6] Gazoz won the silver medal in the Recurve Cadet Men event at the European Youth Cup Circuit 2015 in Klagenfurt, Austria,[7] and another silver medal in the Recurve Junior Men Team event at the 2016 World Indoor Archery Championships in Ankara, Turkey.[8]

Gazoz won his first match on 8 August 2016 in the 2016 Rio Olympics at 1/32 tour against the French Pierre Plihon, with a score of 6–5. At his second match, 1/16 tour, he lost the game 3–7 against the Dutch Sjef Van den Berg.

He won the bronze medal in the Junior Mixed team event with his teammate Yasemin Anagöz at the 2017 World Archery Youth Championships in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina.

He claimed the silver medal in the Junior Men's individual event at the 2018 World Indoor Archery Championships held in Yankton, South Dakota, United States.[9]

He won the gold medal in individuals 70m category during the 2018 Mediterranean Games held in Tarragona, Spain.[10]

Mete Gazoz won gold in men's individual archery at Tokyo Olympic Games, bringing his country its first-ever Olympic medal in archery. “I’m feeling great. It’s amazing to be here, it’s amazing to have a gold medal at the Olympics. After 2016, after Rio, I promised myself I would be Olympic Champion next time in Tokyo,” said Gazoz. Gazoz, who defeated Luxembourg's Jeff Henckels in the first round match held on Thursday at the Yumenoshima Archery Field, and Australian Ryan Tyack in the second round match, had advanced to the last 16. He advanced to the quarterfinals by knocking off Australian Taylor Worth in the round of 16 in the morning session. Gazoz eliminated Brady Ellison of the United States, who is ranked number 1 in the world rankings, to book his spot in the semifinals. In the semis, Gazoz defeated Japan's Takaharu Furukawa to advance to the final. Here he competed against Italy's Mauro Nespoli. Gazoz won the match 6–4 and bagged the gold medal.[11][12]

He won the bronze medal in the men's individual recurve event at the 2022 European Archery Championships held in Munich, Germany.[13][14]

Mete Gazoz won the gold medal at the 2023 World Archery Championships held in Berlin, Germany by defeating Canadian Eric Peters 6–4 in the men's individual classical final as a result of 28–27, 28–30, 24–28, 30–28 and 28–29 sets. He defeated El Salvadoran Óscar Ticas 7–3 in the first round, Indian Tushar Prabhakar Shelke 6–0 in the second round, Swiss Florian Faber 6–0 in the third round, American Brady Ellison 6–0 in the fourth round, Chilean Ricardo Soto 6–2 in the quarterfinals and Brazilian Marcus D'Almeida 7–3 in the semifinals to reach the final.[15] By winning the silver medal at the 2023 World Archery Championships, the men's classical men's national team consisting of Mete Gazoz, Berkim Tümer and Muhammed Yıldırmış came second in the world. Turkey has achieved a quota for the 2024 Summer Olympics in both team and individual in men's classical men's archery.[16]

In 2023, he was honored for the third time with the Best Men's Recurve Archer of the Year award of the World Archery Federation following in 2018 and 2021.[17]

He won the gold medal in the men's individual recurve event at the 2024 European Archery Championships held in Essen, Germany by defeating Slovenian Den Habjan Malavašič 6–0 in the men's individual classical final match in 29–25, 26–25, 30–28 sets. Gazoz had reached the final by eliminating Luxembourg's Pit Klein 6–0, Dutch Steve Wijler 6–0, Dutch Gijs Broeksma 6–0 and French Baptiste Addis 7–1 in the semifinals.[18] In the men's team recurve event team consisting of Mete Gazoz, Berkim Tümer and Berkay Akkoyun won the bronze medal by defeating the Netherlands 5–4 in the third place match.[18] Gazoz became the first archer to hold the Olympic, World and European championships at the same time.[19]

Honours

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World Archery Federation
Best Men's Recurve Archer of the Year (3): 2018, 2021, 2023.[17]

References

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  1. ^ "Mete Gazoz". worldarchery.sport. World Archery Federation. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  2. ^ "TURKSPORU – Türk sporunu her şeyimizle destekliyoruz". turksporu.com.tr. Archived from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Mete Gazoz". worldarchery.sport. World Archery Federation. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  4. ^ "2014 Nanjing Yaz Gençlik Olimpiyat Oyunları". olimpiyatkomitesi.org.tr (in Turkish). Türkiye Milli Olimpiyat Komitesi. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  5. ^ "2015 Bakü Avrupa Oyunları". olimpiyatkomitesi.org.tr (in Turkish). Türkiye Milli Olimpiyat Komitesi. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  6. ^ "2015 World Archery Championships: Entries by country" (PDF). ianseo.net. pp. 7–18. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  7. ^ "EYC Klagenfurt 2015 – Final Results". archeryeurope.org. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  8. ^ "World Archery Indoor Championships – 2016 Ankara, Turkey – Cpmplete Book" (PDF). ianseo.net. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  9. ^ "Mete Gazoz dünya ikincisi oldu!". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 18 February 2018. Archived from the original on 30 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  10. ^ "ATHLETE PROFILE: GAZOZ Mete". tarragona2018.cat. 2018 Mediterranean Games. Archived from the original on 2 July 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  11. ^ "Turkey wins 1st-ever Olympic medal in archery". aa.com.tr. Archived from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  12. ^ "Mete Gazoz wins the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games". worldarchery.sport. World Archery Federation. 31 July 2021. Archived from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  13. ^ Houston, Michael (12 June 2022). "German top seeds lose recurve finals at European Archery Championships". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  14. ^ "2022 European Archery Championships Results Book" (PDF). World Archery Europe. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 June 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Mete Gazoz 6-4 Eric Peters MAÇ SONUCU ÖZET Milli okçumuz Dünya Şampiyonu!". Fotomaç. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  16. ^ "Mete Gazoz Dünya Şampiyonu oldu". www.trthaber.com (in Turkish). 7 August 2023. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  17. ^ a b "Türkiye's Mete Gazoz named 'best men's recurve archer' of 2023". TRT World. 31 December 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  18. ^ a b "2024 European Archery Championships Results Book" (PDF). IANSEO. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 May 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  19. ^ "Tarihe Geçti: Milli Gururumuz Mete Gazoz Avrupa Şampiyonu!". Onedio (in Turkish). Retrieved 27 July 2024.
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