Turkey finishes European Athletics Championships with three golds, one silver

Following Nevin Yanit's 100-meter hurdle victory last week, over the weekend Alemitu Degfa Bekele and Elvan Abeylegesse led Turkey to a one-two finish in the 5,000-meter race at the European Championships in Barcelona, Spain. Turkey, in its best ever performance in the competition, finished fifth overall with three gold medals and one silver, though it had only 20 athletes competing, far fewer than other winning countries. This bested its previous top showing in the 2002 European Championships, when Sureyya Ayhan won one gold medal. Bekele won her gold in a championship-record time and reportedly got congratulations from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This was the first time a Turkish duo finished one-two in an international athletics championship.