Ferhat Arıcan

Ferhat Arıcan (born 28 July 1993) is a Turkish artistic gymnast. He represented Turkey at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. At the 2020 Olympic Games he became the first Turkish gymnast to win an Olympic medal, winning bronze on the parallel bars.^[1]

Arıcan was born in Konak, İzmir in 1993. He took up gymnastics when he was 9–10 years old. He studied sports administration at Ege University.^[2]

Arıcan was selected to represent Turkey at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games. He won silver on vault behind Ganbatyn Erdenebold of Mongolia.^[3] He would make his senior debut at the 2010 World Championships later that year and also competed at the 2011 World Championships.^[3]

Arıcan competed at the 2013 European Championships where he finished 23rd in the all-around.^[4] At the 2013 Mediterranean Games he won bronze on parallel bars.^[5]

Arıcan competed at the 2014 World Championships in Nanning, China.^[6] He was originally a reserve athlete for the all-around; however he was called up to compete when Alexander Shatilov withdrew. He placed twenty-third.

At the 2015 European Championships Arıcan placed 24th in the all-around and seventh on parallel bars. At the 2015 European Games he placed eleventh in the all-around and sixth on vault and parallel bars. At the World Championships he placed 53rd in the all-around during qualifications.

Arıcan competed at the Olympic Test Event in early 2016 where he earned an individual berth to compete at the upcoming Olympic Games. In doing so he became the first Turkish male gymnast in 108 to qualify to compete at the Olympics after Aleko Mulos did so in 1908.^[7] At the 2016 Olympic Games Arıcan placed 41st in the all-around during qualifications and did not qualify for any event finals.

At the 2017 European Championships Arıcan placed eighth in the all-around and on pommel horse and placed seventh on the parallel bars. He competed at the 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games alongside Ahmet Önder and İbrahim Çolak; they finished first as a team. Individually Arıcan placed first on parallel bars and second on horizontal bar. At the 2017 World Championships Arıcan placed twentieth in the all-around and also qualified to his first apparatus event final, the parallel bars. He finished eighth on the event.

Arıcan competed at the 2018 World Cups in Baku and Doha and the World Challenge Cups in Koper and Mersin; he earned five bronze medals. At the 2018 Mediterranean Games he helped Turkey place second as a team and individually he won bronze on the parallel bars. Arıcan placed nineteenth in the all-around at the 2018 World Championships.

Arıcan competed at the 2019 World Cups in Melbourne, Baku, and Doha. At the 2019 European Championships He placed tenth in the all-around and fifth on pommel horse but won his first European medal, a bronze on parallel bars. Arıcan next competed at the 2019 European Games where he won another bronze on parallel bars. At the 2019 World Championships he placed fifth on the event.

Arıcan competed at the 2020 Baku World Cup; however the competition was canceled after qualifications due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[8] Many other competitions were either canceled or postponed throughout the year. In December the European Championships were held. Arıcan helped Turkey win the silver medal behind Ukraine in the team competition. Individually Arıcan won gold on the parallel bars and bronze on pommel horse.

Arıcan defended his parallel bars title at the 2021 European Championships. He also picked up gold medals on the apparatus at the 2021 Osijek Challenge Cup and the Doha World Cup.

Arıcan competed at the postponed-2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. He won the bronze medal on the parallel bars behind Zou Jingyuan and Lukas Dauser. With this medal he became the first athlete representing Turkey to earn an Olympic Medal in artistic gymnastics.^[9]

Arıcan began the year competing at the 2022 World Cups in Cottbus, Cairo, and Baku and the World Challenge Cup in Osijek; he earned one gold medal and two silver medals on the parallel bars. He competed at the Mediterranean Games where he helped Turkey win gold in the team competition. Additionally he won gold on parallel bars and bronze on pommel horse.^[10] Arıcan next competed at the Islamic Solidarity Games alongside Adem Asil and Ahmet Önder; together they won gold as a team. Individually Arıcan once again won gold on parallel bars and bronze on pommel horse. He next competed at the 2022 European Championships where he helped Turkey win team bronze behind Great Britain and Italy. Individually Arıcan placed fifth on pommel horse and seventh on the parallel bars. At the 2022 World Championships he placed fourth on parallel bars.

At the 2023 European Championships Arıcan helped Turkey place second Italy; individually he won silver on the parallel bars behind Illia Kovtun.^[11] At the 2023 World Championships Arıcan helped Turkey finished 10th as a team during qualifications; in doing so, Turkey qualified a full team to the Olympic Games for the first time.^[12]

Arıcan was selected to represent Turkey and the 2024 Olympic Games alongside Adem Asil, İbrahim Çolak, Emre Dodanlı, and Ahmet Önder. During the qualification round Turkey finished ninth.^[13] Individually Arıcan qualified to the parallel bars final where he finished fifth.^[14]

Arıcan competed at various World Cups and World Challenge Cups in 2025, winning gold on parallel bars in Antalya and Varna and bronze in Osijek.^[15][16][17]

• Ferhat Arican at the International Gymnastics Federation
• Ferhat Arican at Olympics.com
• Ferhat Arican at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics
• Ferhat Arıcan at Olympedia
• Ferhat Arıcan at the Turkish Olympic Committee's Olimpedya
• Ferhat Arıcan at the Türkiye Milli Olimpiyat Komitesi (in Turkish)