Dodanli Makes Debut in Olympic Games

PARIS — Oklahoma gymnast Emre Dodanli can now and forever will be able to boast the title of "Olympian." Dodanli finished 31st in the all-around in his first Olympics appearance and helped lead Turkey to a ninth-place finish in the team qualifier on Saturday at Bercy Arena.

A product of Turkey by way of Milton, Ontario, Dodanli is approaching his senior season at OU in 2024-25, but registered quite an accomplished summer, capped by his Olympics debut.

Dodanli notched a 79.597 during Turkey's qualifying session on Saturday, placing 31st in the all-around and 1.6 points out of 24th place. The top 24 athletes advanced to the all-around finals, while the top-8 teams moved on to the team finals and top-8 athletes advanced to the individual apparatus finals.

Turkey registered a team total of 247.559, only .235 points behind eighth place, just missing qualification to the team finals. This was the first time Turkey has ever qualified a team to the Olympics in men's gymnastics.

"I'm so proud of Emre's performance at the Olympic Games," Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams said. "He got better with each event, competing in the all-around. It was a thrill to see his passion and joy come out after his final event."

The final event was among Dodanli's best of the day. He stuck his horizontal bar dismount for a team-best 13.733 to finish 19th in the event – his highest placement in the standings. The stick was met with smiles and cheers from Dodanli and his teammates and coaches.

The high bar score, with an 8.133 execution, marked his fourth straight execution score of 8.1 or better in the meet. He scored 13.966 on parallel bars (8.766 execution; 40th place) and 14.466 on his lone vault attempt (9.266 execution). He also notched a 12.866 on still rings (8.366 execution) to kick-start his bounce back from the two opening-event scores of 12.800 on floor exercise and 11.766 on pommel horse.

Overall, it was an impressive Olympics debut for Dodanli, one of the 15 youngest athletes among the 96 competing in men's artistic gymnastics at the 2024 Games.

Dodanli, who is the first OU men's gymnast to compete in the Olympic Games for a country other than the United States, made the Turkish Olympic Team after winning the gold in the all-around at the Turkish Artistic Gymnastics Senior Men's Championship in Antalya, Turkey, in June. He also won the individual event titles on floor exercise and horizontal bar.

The Paris Olympics marked the third time Dodanli has competed internationally with Turkey in the last year. In April, immediately after helping OU to a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships in Columbus, Ohio, he flew to Rimini, Italy, to compete with Turkey at the European Championships. Last fall, he was selected for the Turkish National Team and competed at the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, helping his birth country qualify a team to the Olympics in men's gymnastics for the first time in its history.

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Emre Dodanli

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