Türkiye starts Islamic Solidarity Games Day 2 on top of tally
Turkish athlete Necati Er during his gold-winning jump at the 5th Islamic Solidarity Games, Konya, Türkiye, Aug. 10, 2022. (DHA Photo)


Türkiye started Day 2 of the 5th Islamic Solidarity Games at the top of the medals tally on Wednesday.

With the games being held in the central Anatolian city of Konya, host Türkiye had a total of 39 medals, including 16 gold, 14 silvers and 9 bronze. It was followed by Iran with 18 medals, including five gold, nine silver and four bronze medals.

Nine of Türkiye’s 16 gold medals came in different track and field events, six of them were won in para-swimming and the other came in table tennis.

Athlete Necati Er won triple jump gold after covering 16.73 meters. In the women's discus throw final, Özlem Becerek won the gold medal with a distance of 54.91 meters, while Nurten Mermer won silver with a 52.85-meter throw.

Ersu Şaşma, on the other hand, broke the games record with his 5.60-meter jump in the men's pole vault finals and clinched the gold medal.

Ekaterina Guliyev, in the meanwhile, won gold in the women's 800-meter event, with a time of 2:02.28. Yasmani Copello won silver in the men's 400-meter hurdles with a time of 48.86.

National athlete Tuğba Danışmanz won a silver medal with her 6.34-meter jump in the women's long jump, while Emre Zafer Barnes won the bronze medal in the men's 100-meter athletics final with a time of 9.99.

In taekwondo, Turkish athletes finished the day with three silver and a bronze medal. Deniz Dağdelen, Görkem Polat and Hatice Kübra İlgün all won silvers, while Zeliha Ağrıs won bronze.

The 5th Islamic Solidarity Games officially started in Türkiye's Konya province with a colorful opening ceremony on Tuesday.