IZMIR, Turkey
A 21-year-old Turkish athlete is preparing to unveil a new gymnastic technique ahead of the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in China next month.
Nicknamed ‘Suleiman the Magnificent’, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality club athlete Ferhat Arican, who has already had two techniques in gymnastics named after him, has been working on another movement around the somersault.
If this is approved, he will be the first athlete to have three techniques named after him.
According to a statement from Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, Arican will display his third move at the games in Beijing between October 3 and 12.
The Turkish national team member recalled how his first move was made in 2008 on the parallel bars before his second technique last year on the vaulting table.
"I would like to make my mark in gymnastics by generating a series at a more difficult level," Arican told an Anadolu Agency reporter in Izmir.
"I had a run of bad luck before the 2012 London Olympics and I missed the games at the last moment, but I am more experienced and ready now.
“After three championships in 2014, I am aiming for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. I want to bring the first medal to my country in our Olympic history more than anything," he said.
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