World and European champion Buse Naz Çakıroğlu has one medal left to complete her glittering collection, Olympic gold and the Turkish boxer is already mapping the long road toward the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
The 29-year-old, one of Türkiye’s most consistent athletes of the past decade, has built a career defined by podium finishes at the sport’s biggest stages.
She owns gold medals from the 2022 World Championships in Istanbul and European titles in 2019, 2022 and 2024, yet twice walked away from the Olympic ring with silver, at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
Now, the focus is clear: turn silver into gold.
Çakıroğlu most recently claimed silver in the women’s 51-kilogram division at the World Boxing Championships held in England last September.
Her immediate calendar remains packed, with appearances scheduled at the Mediterranean Games in Italy from Aug. 21 to Sept. 3, followed by the European Boxing Championships in Bulgaria from Sept. 15-26.
The official Olympic qualification push, however, begins next year. Çakıroğlu will start her bid for a Los Angeles quota at the European Games to be held in Istanbul, a tournament she sees as the gateway to another Olympic campaign.
“I’ve reached the finals in every tournament I’ve competed in over the past two years,” Çakıroğlu told Anadolu Agency (AA). “I competed in two Olympics and came back with silver both times. For Los Angeles, my goal is clear, gold.”
She said the Turkish Championships will mark the true start of a demanding qualification marathon, one she hopes to navigate alongside a strong national team.
“Like last time, we want to secure our quotas and go to Los Angeles together as a team,” she said. “Every year, I try to show a better, more complete version of myself. And like every athlete, when I step into the ring, I want to be champion.”
Çakıroğlu believes the Olympic stage remains unmatched, even for athletes accustomed to world and European titles.
“The Olympics are different,” she said. “The atmosphere pulls you into another world. Once you’ve been there, once you’ve smelled that ring, you want to compete in every Olympics. My priority now is to qualify again and complete the medal that’s missing.”
