Merve Dinçel

Merve Dinçel has won a gold medal at the World Taekwondo Women's Open Championships held in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh in 2021.^[3] She won the gold medal in the women's 49 kg event at the 2022 European Championships held in Manchester, United Kingdom.^[4][5]

She won the gold medal in the women's 49 kg event at the 2022 Mediterranean Games held in Orran, Algeria.^[6]

Dinçel, in the women's 49 kg category at the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, defeated Elizaveta Ryadninskaya, a Russian athlete competing as an individual athlete, in the second round and advanced to the third round after passing the first round without a match. She defeated Dunya Abutaleb from Saudi Arabia in the third round, then defeated Botakoz Kapanova from Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals and reached the semifinals. In the 49 kg final, she won against the reigning Olympic champion Panipak Wongpattanakit from Thailand.^[7]

Later that year, Dinçel won the silver medal in the women's 49 kg weight class at the 2023 European Games and the 2023 World University Games.^[8]

At the 2023 World Grand Prix, she took the bronze medal in Manchester, United Kingdom, and the gold medal in Paris, France.^[9] She won the gold medal at the 2023 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. She was honored with the "Best Sportswoman of 2023" award by the World Taekwondo.^[10]

In 2024, she won the silver medal in the women's 49 kg event at the European Taekwondo Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia.

She competed in the 49 kg at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, and advanced to the quarterfinals.^[11] After losing her match in the quarterfinals, she won the repechage match.^[12] She fought in the bronze medal match against Lena Stojković and placed fifth after losing the fight.^[13]

Merve Dinçel was born on 22 October 1999.^[12] She studied Physical Education in the Faculty of Sport science at Kırşehir Ahi Evran University.^[5] She married Ferhat Can Kavurat, also a national taekwondo practitioner, on 13 July 2023.^[14]