Meanwhile, Turkey’s only hope for gold in track is Elvan Abeylegesse, who still carries on with her training in Turkey. She will continue warming up for Athens in Mersin (a southern Turkish city) with her trainer Ertan Hatipoglu for six more days.
Elvan Abeylegesse broke the women’s world 5000 m record earlier this year and is one of Turkey’s megastars of 2004.
I haven’t seen her running the streets of Mersin yet. I would know if I did see her. She looks distinctly non-Turkish.
UPDATE (17/08/2004): Apparently Elvan chose to train in Mersin because of its similar climate to Athens.
