Türkiye’s archers delivered a statement season in 2025, piling up 52 medals across major international competitions as Olympic champion Mete Gazoz set the tone and a new generation stepped into the spotlight.
The Crescent-Star finished the year with 16 gold, 26 silver and 10 bronze medals, opening the campaign in emphatic fashion at the European Indoor Archery Championships in Samsun from Feb. 17-23.
Competing in senior and under-21 categories, Turkish archers dominated the indoor stage, collecting eight gold, nine silver and two bronze medals to launch the season with momentum.
That rhythm carried into the World Cup circuit, where Türkiye claimed nine medals – one gold, four silver and four bronze – highlighted by a breakthrough performance from Emircan Haney.
The compound archer crowned his season with gold at the 2025 Hyundai Archery World Cup Finals in China, climbing from bronze in Antalya and silver in Madrid to the top of the podium when it mattered most.
At the heart of the campaign stood Mete Gazoz, who closed the year with seven medals across individual and team events – one gold, five silver and one bronze.
Gazoz reached the podium repeatedly at the World Cup opening leg, the European Indoor Championships and the World Indoor Archery Series finals, all in men’s recurve singles.
His lone gold came on home soil at the European Grand Prix 1st Leg Spring Arrows in Antalya, where Türkiye swept the nations’ standings with four gold and six silver medals overall.
Türkiye’s para archers added further weight to the medal count. At the World Para Archery Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, the team returned with one gold and three silver medals, led by Öznur Cüre Girdi.
The Paris 2024 Paralympic champion completed a rare “triple,” winning medals in all three events she entered – silver in women’s compound individual, gold in the women’s team event with Büşra Fatma Ün, and silver in the mixed team alongside Kenan Babaoğlu.
The senior team fell just short at the World Archery Championships, where the men’s compound team of Batuhan Akçaoğlu, Emircan Haney and Yağız Sezgin finished fourth after losing the bronze-medal match to Slovenia.
Elsewhere, Turkish archers continued to deliver: one gold and one bronze at the World Youth Championships, three silver and one bronze at the International Conquest Cup, and one gold and two bronze at the World University Games.
Looking ahead, Turkish Archery Federation president Abdullah Topaloğlu called the 52-medal haul a strong indicator of progress but stressed that the real target lies further down the road.
“2025 was successful for us,” Topaloğlu said. “We had outstanding results at the European Indoor Championships and won gold at the World Cup Finals. Emircan Haney’s title is a major achievement in world archery, and our Paralympic athletes again proved their level, with Öznur Cüre Girdi winning medals in all three events she entered.”
Topaloğlu underlined that preparations are being shaped with the 2027 World Archery Championships firmly in mind, noting that Olympic quota places for the 2028 Los Angeles Games will be decided there.
He also pointed to the launch of the Türkiye under-15 Archery League as a key investment in the future.
“The participation exceeded expectations,” he said. “It’s a vital step toward developing new champions, and the league will continue to grow in the coming years.”
