Imran Özkaya (born 16 July 1999) is a German taekwondo athlete.[2]

Imran Özkaya
Personal information
Born (1999-07-16) 16 July 1999 (age 25)
Ulm, Germany
Height181 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight63 kg (139 lb)
Sport
CountryGermany
SportTaekwondo
Event(s)–63 kg, –68 kg
ClubTaekwondo Varol Neu-Ulm
Coached bySenol Varol
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking16 (2023)[1]
Medal record
Representing  Germany
Men's taekwondo
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2023 Tallinn 68 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Manchester 63 kg
European U21 Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Helsingborg 63 kg
Updated on 21 July 2024

Career

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Imran Özkaya is an athlete in the Olympic kyorugi taekwondo discipline and has been competing in international tournaments since 2012. In 2019, he won his first major medal at an international competition with a bronze medal at the U21 European Championships in Helsingborg.[3]

Özkaya took part in the 2021 European Taekwondo Championships in Sofia in the under 68 kg competition, but did not reach the podium.[4] In 2022, he won one of the bronze medals in the 63 kg weight class at the 2022 European Taekwondo Championships held in Manchester, England.[5]

Özkaya competed at the World Championships in Guadalajara and Baku in 2022 and 2023 as well as the 2023 European Games in Kraków. At the 2023 Multi European Games in Sarajevo he claimed second place in the weight class up to 63 kg.[6]

In Tallinn, Estonia, Özkaya won the gold medal in the men's -68 kg competition at the 2023 European Taekwondo Championships in the olympic weight classes.[7]

In March 2024, he participated in the European qualification tournament for the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, where he lost to Zinedin Becovic from Montenegro in the quarter-finals.[8] He therefore did not qualify a quota place for the 68 kg weight category at the Olympic Games, as this would have required him to reach the final.[9][10]

Personal life

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Özkaya is a Soldier-Athlete (German: Sportsoldat) with the sports promotion group of the Bundeswehr (German: Sportfördergruppe der Bundeswehr).[11][12]

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References

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  1. ^ http://www.worldtaekwondo.org/ranking/ranking.html
  2. ^ "TaekwondoData".
  3. ^ "Taekwondo: Imran Özkaya kämpft für Deutschland bei der EM | Regio TV". www.regio-tv.de. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
  4. ^ "Turkey claim three golds on first day of European Taekwondo Championships". www.insidethegames.biz. 2022-05-19. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
  5. ^ "Double delight for Turkey on last day of European Taekwondo Championships".
  6. ^ "TaekwondoData". TaekwondoData. Retrieved 2023-09-05.
  7. ^ "Upcoming events – Europe Taekwondo". Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  8. ^ https://europetaekwondo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/EQT-Olympic-P11-Competition-Draw-Sheet-DAY-2-10-MAR-2024.pdf
  9. ^ "[World Taekwondo] Paris 2024 Olympic Games Qualification System". m.worldtaekwondo.org. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  10. ^ "[World Taekwondo] Paris 2024 Olympic Games Qualification System". 2024-03-10. Archived from the original on 2024-03-10. Retrieved 2024-03-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  11. ^ Schöttl, Stephan. "Neu-Ulmer Taekwondoka träumt von Olympia 2024". Augsburger Allgemeine (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-05.
  12. ^ SWP (2023-08-04). "Taekwondo: Imran Özkaya: Der Ulmer Kampfsportler gibt alles für seinen Traum von Olympia". swp.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-05.