Eşref Apak (born 3 January 1982 in Kalecik, Ankara) is a Turkish hammer thrower. Apak was a member of Fenerbahçe Athletics in Istanbul then transferred to Enkaspor, where he was coached by Artun Talay. The 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) tall athlete at 115 kg (254 lb) was a student of physical education and sports at Gazi University in Ankara.

Apak took part at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and originally took a fource place with 79.51 m result. After a series of doping-related disqualifications he moved up to second place after the gold medalist Koji Murofushi of Japan. However, as he had been suspended from the sport for doping offenses since 2004, the IOC decided not to award the both silver and bronze medals. In 2005 Apak participated at the 2005 Mediterranean Games in Almería and won the gold medal.

Eşref Apak is married to sprinter Sema Aydemir, and the couple has a son Ali.

He served a 2-year doping ban for the use of a prohibited substance, Stanozolol. The ban lasted from 8 June 2013 to 25 June 2015.

Achievements

YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
Representing Turkey
2000World Junior ChampionshipsSantiago, Chile1st69.97 m NJR
2001Mediterranean GamesTunis, Tunisia6th71.06 m
2003European U23 ChampionshipsBydgoszcz, Poland2nd76.52 m
2004Olympic GamesAthens, Greece2nd (without medal)79.51 m
2005Universiadeİzmir, Turkey2nd76.18 m
Mediterranean GamesAlmería, Spain1st77.88 m
World ChampionshipsHelsinki, Finland17th (q)73.04 m
2006European ChampionshipsGothenburg, Sweden19th (q)70.17 m
2007World ChampionshipsOsaka, Japan11th76.59 m
2008Olympic GamesBeijing, China16th (q)74.45 m
2009World ChampionshipsBerlin, Germany27th (q)70.70 m
2012Olympic GamesLondon, United Kingdom17th (q)73.47 m
2015World ChampionshipsBeijing, China17th (q)73.01 m
2016European ChampionshipsAmsterdam, NetherlandsNM
Olympic GamesRio de Janeiro, Brazil24th (q)70.08 m
2017Islamic Solidarity GamesBaku, Azerbaijan1st74.32 m
European Team ChampionshipsLille, France2nd71.53 m
World ChampionshipsLondon, United Kingdom16th (q)73.55 m
2018European ChampionshipsBerlin, Germany17th (q)72.70 m
2021Olympic GamesTokyo, Japan9th76.71 m
2022Islamic Solidarity GamesKonya, Turkey2nd71.34 m

External links