Find a Way - Sports in Pandemic Days
During the epidemic, many athletes turned their houses, roofs and parking lots into a training area. In this process, Fenerbahce Sports Club's successful sprinter Irem Bilgic had to work on the terrace of his house in Zeytinburnu, Istanbul. Because Irem was under the age of 18, she was forbidden to go out on the street by the state authorities. Working on the terrace of her house was a serious limitation for a 100-meter runner, but it was luck that Irem had such space.
Enka Sports Club Tennis Branch, one of the well-established clubs of Istanbul with national athletes in different branches, was only able to open its courts to professional tennis players as of June 1, 2020.
Turkey Artistic Swimming National Team and Fenerbahce head coach Lacin Kokcay says that even though it is under the name of amateur branches, synchronized swimming is not an amateur at all, on the contrary, the athletes in this branch also go through professional preparation stages.
During the epidemic, many athletes turned their houses, roofs and parking lots into a training area. In this process, Fenerbahce Sports Club's successful sprinter Irem Bilgic had to work on the terrace of his house in Zeytinburnu, Istanbul. Because Irem was under the age of 18, she was forbidden to go out on the street by the state authorities. Working on the terrace of her house was a serious limitation for a 100-meter runner, but it was luck that Irem had such space.
2020
While we used to say that nothing would happen to us and we were proud of our measures, since March 11, 2020, a lot has started to change in Turkey, like the world, and this change has continued for a long time. The uncertainty brought about by this unpredictable wave of change that entered our lives due to the pandemic had a great impact on the economy, politics, social, cultural fields and especially on sports. The effect of uncertainty in sports on athletes is goallessness and loss of motivation. Especially on national athletes who had been preparing for international competitions such as national competitions, Olympic games or European championships. They experienced the biggest shock in the history of modern sports. All organizations were stopped, postponed or canceled. Athletes who worked for years to reach their goals sought their own ways in great uncertainty. As a photojournalist, I was with national athletes who prepared physically and mentally under completely different conditions during the pandemic period. Despite all the difficulties brought by the coronavirus pandemic, they did not give up and continued their work resolutely with the opportunities provided by the government and themselves. This photo reportage covers the months of May and June of 2020, when the athletes continue to work with special permissions after the last March and April with the full closure in Istanbul, Turkey.