Demet Parlak
Turkish pole vaulter (born 1990)
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Demet Parlak (born 1 January 1990) is a Turkish pole vaulter.
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| Nationality |  TUR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 1 January 1990 Pınarlı, Çamoluk, Giresun, Turkey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Pole vault | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Fenerbahçe Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early years
Inspired by the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she watched in the television, Parlak decided to start performing athletics. In 2010, she began training. However, her parents opposed t her sport activity in athletics with the argument that she would neglect her education. Continuing in athletics, she told her family that she had quit athletics, but was selected to the school's basketball team. After being successful in her age category and also in the senior category, as well as breaking records, her parents changed their mind and agreed to her sport in athletics. With the support of her parents, she entered Olympics Preparation Center of Adana, where she was coached by the Ukrainian Oleksondr Smakin and Turkish İbrahim Halil Aydın.[1]
Sport career
Parlak is a member of Fenerbahçe Athletics.[2]
In 2015, she set a new national indoor U23 and senior women record with 4.25 m at the Istanbul Championships.[1]
She won her country's first gold medal in the pole vault event at the 2016 Balkan Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.[3] The same year at the |2016 European Champion Clubs Cup in Mersin, Turkey , she won the silver medal, and set a new Turkish record with 4.30 m in the women's U23 and seniors category.[4] She also took the silver medal at the Balkan Championships in Pitești, Romania.[5]
She won the gold medal at the 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku, Azerbaijan.[2]
She took the bronze medal at the 2020 Balkan Championships in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.[6]
In 2022, at the postponed 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games in Konya, Turkey, she became gold medalist.[7]
She took the silver medal at the 2025 Balkan Championships in Volos, Greece.[8] She competed at the Athletics at the 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,[9] and won the gold medal.[10][11]