6 foreign athletes from 24 different countries and 142 Turkish athletes from 53 different cities participated in the 973th Gazi Half Marathon and Public Run held in Gaziantep. There were 836 male and 279 female athletes among the participants.
Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Fatma Şahin stated that they made an intensive effort to make Gaziantep a city of sports and said, “Today we are running for our 6 martyrs and thousands of veterans. We are running for Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Today we are running for our Gazi Assembly. We are giving a message to establish peace in the world. 317 years ago, our ancestors resisted hunger with apricot seeds and did not give up. They fought for their land and for their star and crescent flag. Şahinbey’s grandchildren are ready to run. I wish success to each of our athletes.”
Turkish Athletics Federation Deputy Chairman Nihat Bağcı thanked the athletes participating in the sixth Gazi Half Marathon for being here and said, “As a federation, we try to support this meaningful race every year. We wish success to each and every athlete who will sweat in the competition.”
As a result of the competitions, the following athletes were ranked;
In the 21-kilometer general classification men's category of the marathon, Sezgin Ataç came in first, Hüseyin Can came in second and Ersin Tekal came in third. In the women's category, Dilek Öztürk came in first, Pınar Demir came in second and Özge Çolak came in third.
In the 10 Kilometer men's race, Ömer Amaçtan came first, Mustafa Bakır second and Deniz Çetin third, while in the women's race, Buse Meyda came first, Elif Erdoğan second and Buecu Aktaş third.
The athletes received their awards and gifts from Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Fatma Şahin, AK Party Gaziantep Deputy Bünyamin Bozgeyik, Turkish Athletics Federation Deputy Chairman Nihat Bağcı, Vice President Özür Ulupınar, Vice President M. Münir Cura, Youth and Sports Provincial Director Numan Nafiz Şahin, Provincial Director of National Education Dr. Erdal Kılınç and Şehitkamil District Director of National Education Mehmet Yağcı.
