WordBulletin

International Fair Play Committee (CIFP) has awarded Turkish track and field athlete Elvan Abeylegesse with a fair play prize, the committee said on Monday.

The CIFP awarded Abeylegesse, the first Turkish athlete ever to set a world record, with Pierre de Coubertin World Fair Play Trophy, a prize given for a gesture of fair play.

Abeylegesse lent her spare track shoes to Ethiopian athlete Meselech Melkamu during event in the World Athletics Championships in August last year in Berlin.

Melkamu, who forgot her own pairs at her hotel room, came second in the ten thousand event to win her first medal in a world champion ship as Abeylegesse was forced to quit in the seventh lap due to her injury.

"I am very surprised and happy as well for receiving this prize," Abeylegesse told the Anadolu Agency.

The CIFP also awarded, Sema Kasapoglu, a member of the Turkey's national olympic committee, a diploma of honor for her leadership in a national promotion campaign to encourage girls to practice sports.

Abeylegesse and Kasapoglu are set to receive their prizes in a ceremony to be held on March 27 in Budapest, Hungary.


AA