# Nurcan Taylan

Nurcan Taylan (born 29 October 1983 in Ankara, Turkey) is a Turkish Olympic, world and European champion in weightlifting. She holds six European and one world record (and tied two more world records). She was banned by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) after she tested positive for the anabolic steroid Methandienone for two years starting on 26 October 2011.

## Career

She was born in Mamak, Ankara as the third child of a poor family from the town of Hafik in Sivas, Central Anatolia. Taylan was discovered aged 11 by the Turkish national athlete and her later coach Mehmet Üstündağ as he was her teacher in physical education at the Mamak Secondary School in Ankara.
Only 1.52 m (5 ft) tall, she lifted two World and five Olympic records in the women's 48 kg category at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Taylan is Turkey's first ever female Olympic gold medalist.

### Scandals

In September 2004, a Turkish court ordered the arrest of the coach of the Turkish women's weightlifting team, Mehmet Üstündağ, after three female athletes filed complaints of sexual harassment against him. In court, Üstündağ denied allegations of repeated physical sexual molestation going back several years, fielded by Sibel Şimşek, Aylin Daşdelen and Şule Şahbaz, all of them members of the Turkish women's team at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
But the court ordered him to be placed under detention in view of the "alleged crime's nature, the evidence collected and feelings of anger it has inspired in the public". The allegations first hit the media in early September when the three athletes gave extensive interviews to newspapers and television channels. Daşdelen told a television news program that Üstündağ also made it a habit of "beating" his charges, going so far as to blame the trainer for the 1999 suicide of teammate Esma Can. The only support for Üstündağ came from Taylan, who in turn "accused" her three teammates of being lesbians. Turkish sports officials immediately launched an official investigation. Üstündağ had come under investigation on similar charges four years ago, but the evidence was inconclusive. The Turkish Weightlifting Federation did not allow Taylan to participate at the 2005 European Weightlifting Championship held in Sofia, Bulgaria.

### Doping case

She was banned by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) after she tested positive for the anabolic steroid Methandienone for four years starting on 26 October 2011. Taylan missed the London Olympics.
In October 2012, her suspension was shortened to two years that would allow her to return to action on 26 October 2013.

### DQ and change results

Taylan was disqualified (DQ) and all results were invalidated from 2008 Summer Olympics to 2016 Summer Olympics.

## Major results

https://iwf.sport/weightlifting_/athletes-bios/?athlete=taylan-nurcan-1983-10-29&id=91
* Team Points: 28-25-23-22-21-20-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 points are distributed for the 1st to 25th place for the individual lifts and the total.
Disqualified from 24 Medals:
* 2G,5S,1B (8 Medals) in World Championships
* 10G,2S,2B (14 Medals) in Euro Championships
* 2G (2 Medals) in Mediterranean Games
| Year | Venue | Weight | Rank | Rank | Rank | Rank |
| Year | Venue | Weight | Snatch | Cl&Jerk | Total | Team Points |
| Olympic Games |||||||
| 2004 | Greece | 48 kg | — | — | | — |
| 2008 | China | 48 kg | — | — | NM | — |
| World Championships |||||||
| 2002 | Poland | 48 kg | | | | 75 |
| 2003 | Canada | 48 kg | | 5 | | 67 |
| 2007 | Thailand | 48 kg | | NM | NM | 23 |
| 2009 | South Korea | 48 kg | | | | 73 |
| 2010 | Turkey | 48 kg | | | | 81 |
| 2014 | Kazakhstan | 48 kg | | 4 | | 72 |
| 2015 | United States | 48 kg | 19 | 21 | 20 | 18 |
| Mediterranean Games |||||||
| 2005 | Spain | 53 kg | | | — | — |
| 2009 | Italy | 53 kg | | | — | — |
| European Championships |||||||
| 2002 | Turkey | 48 kg | | | | 71 |
| 2003 | Greece | 53 kg | | | | 84 |
| 2004 | Ukraine | 53 kg | | | | 84 |
| 2007 | France | 48 kg | | | | 73 |
| 2008 | Italy | 48 kg | | | | 78 |
| 2009 | Romania | 48 kg | | | | 84 |
| 2010 | Belarus | 48 kg | | | | 84 |
| 2011 | Russia | 48 kg | | | | 84 |
| 2014 | Israel | 48 kg | 4 | | | 70 |
| 2015 | Georgia | 48 kg | | 4 | | 75 |
| 2016 | Norway | 48 kg | | 5 | 4 | 66 |

## Achievements
### Olyimpic Games

| Rank | Discipline | Snatch | Clean&Jerk | Total | Place | Date |
| Gold | 48 kg | 97.5 CWR | | 210.0 WR | Athens, GRE | August 14, 2004 |
| Silver | 48 kg | | 112.5 | | Athens, GRE | August 14, 2004 |

### World Championships

| Rank | Discipline | Snatch | Clean&Jerk | Total | Place | Date |
| Gold | 48 kg | 93.0 | 121.0 WR | 214.0 | Antalya, TUR | 18 September 2010 |
| Silver | 48 kg | 90.0 | 115.0 | | Goyang, KOR | November 21, 2009 |
| Bronze | 48 kg | | | 205.0 | Goyang, KOR | November 21, 2009 |
| Silver | 48 kg | 87.5 | 105.0 | 192.5 | Warsaw, POL | 19 November 2002 |
| Bronze | 48 kg | 85.0 | | 187.5 | Vancouver, B.C., CAN | November 18, 2003 |
| 5 | 48 kg | | 102.5 | | Vancouver, B.C., CAN | November 18, 2003 |

### European Championships

| Rank | Discipline | Snatch | Clean&Jerk | Total | Place | Date |
| Gold | 48 kg | 90.0 | 105.0 | 195.0 | Kazan, RUS | 11 April 2011 |
| Gold | 48 kg | 90.0 | 118.0 | 208.0 | Minsk, BLR | 5 April 2010 |
| Gold | 48 kg | 88.0 | 108.0 | 196.0 | Bucharest, ROM | 6 April 2009 |
| Gold | 48 kg | 87.0 | 109.0 | 196.0 | Lignano Sabbiadoro, ITA | 2 April 2008 |
| Gold | 53 kg | 95.5 ER | 115.5 ER | 210.0 | Kyiv, UKR | 20 April 2004 |
| Gold | J 53 kg | 95.0 ER | 115.0 ER | 210.0 ER | Loutraki, GRE | 15 April 2003 |
| Gold | J 48 kg | 87.5 ER | 105.0 ER | 192.5 ER | Warsaw, POL | 19 November 2002 |
Mediterranean Games
| Rank | Discipline | Snatch | Clean&Jerk | Total | Place | Date |
| Gold | 53 kg | 87.0 MR | 108.0 MR | | Almería, ESP | 26 June 2005 |
* J: Junior
* CWR: Current world record
* WR: World record
* ER: European record
* MR: Mediterranean record

## World rank

2004 World ranking list for the category "Women 48 kg" is as following:
| Rank | Athlete | Snatch | Clean&Jerk | Total | Place | Date |
| 1 | Nurcan Taylan, TUR | 97.5 | 112.5 | 210.0 | Athens, GRE | 14 August 2004 |
| 2 | Zhuo Li, CHN | 90.0 | 115.0 | 205.0 | Almaty, Kazakhstan | 7 April 2004 |
| 3 | Wei Gao, CHN | 90.0 | 110.0 | 200.0 | Minsk, BLR | 24 May 2004 |
| 3= | Aree Wiratthaworn, THA | 85.0 | 115.0 | 200.0 | Athens, GRE | 14 August 2004 |