Nurcan Taylan

Nurcan Taylan

Personal information
Nationality	Turkish
Born	(1983-10-29) October 29, 1983 (age 33) Ankara, Turkey
Height	1.52 m (5 ft 0 in)
Weight	48 kg (106 lb)
Sport
Country	Turkey
Sport	Weightlifting
Event(s)	– 48 kg
Club	Yenimahalle Sports Club, Ankara
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	Snatch: 97.5 kg (2004) Clean and jerk: 121 kg (2010) Total: 214 kg (2010)
Medal record Summer Olympics 2004 Athens – 48 kg World Championships 2010 Antalya –48 kg 2002 Warsaw –48 kg 2003 Vancouver –48 kg 2009 Goyang –48 kg European Championships 2003 Loutraki –53 kg 2004 Kiev –53 kg 2008 Lignano Sabbiadoro –48 kg 2009 Bucharest –48 kg 2010 Minsk –48 kg 2011 Kazan –48 kg 2007 Strasbourg –48 kg 2014 Tel Aviv –48 kg 2015 Tbilisi –48 kg 2002 Antalya –48 kg Mediterranean Games 2005 Almería – 53 kg 2009 Pescara – 53 kg

Nurcan Taylan (born October 29, 1983 in Ankara, Turkey) is a Turkish Olympic, world and European champion in weightlifting. She holds six European and one world record (and tied two more world records).

She was born in Mamak, Ankara as the third child of a poor family originating from the town of Hafik in Sivas, Central Anatolia. Taylan was discovered at age of eleven by the Turkish national athlete and her later coach Mehmet Üstündağ as he was her teacher in physical education at the Mamak Secondary School in Ankara.

Only 1.52 m (5 ft) tall, she lifted two World and five Olympic records in the women’s 48 kg category at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Nurcan Taylan is Turkey's first ever female Olympic gold medalist.

She is student of physical education and sports and member of the Yenimahalle Club in Ankara.

In September 2004, a Turkish court ordered the arrest of the coach of the Turkish women’s weightlifting team, Mehmet Üstündağ, after three female athletes filed complaints of sexual harassment against him. In court, Üstündağ denied allegations of repeated physical sexual molestation going back several years, fielded by Sibel Şimşek, Aylin Daşdelen and Şule Şahbaz, all of them being members of the Turkish women's team at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

But the court ordered him to be placed under detention in view of the "alleged crime's nature, the evidence collected and feelings of anger it has inspired in the public". The allegations first hit the media in early September when the three athletes gave extensive interviews to newspapers and television channels. Daşdelen told a television news program that Üstündağ also made it a habit of "beating" his charges, going so far as to blame the trainer for the 1999 suicide of teammate Esma Can. The only support for Üstündağ came from Taylan, who in turn "accused" her three teammates of being lesbians. Turkish sports officials immediately launched an official investigation. Üstündağ had come under investigation on similar charges four years ago, but the evidence was inconclusive. The Turkish Weightlifting Federation did not allow Taylan to participate at the 2005 European Weightlifting Championship held in Sofia, Bulgaria.

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