THE UNKNOWN STORY OF SPORTS PIONEER REVEALED
Hurriyet
Feb 26 2009
Turkey
ISTANBUL – Despite being a key name in getting the Ottoman Empire
for the 1912 Stockhol Olympics, and spreading physical education in
early 1900s, Selim Sırrı Tarcan does not have the recognition he
deserves. Academic and former athlete M. Å~^evki Capan wants to shed
a light on the unknown story of an important sportsperson
Though there are more than a dozen sports halls and streets named
after him, relatively little is known about Selim Sırrı Tarcan,
one of the pioneers of sports in Turkey. Born in 1874, Tarcan was an
athlete himself, but made his mark as a sports administrator, founding
the Turkish Olympic Committee in 1908 and getting the Turkish sports
body recognized on an international level.
"Unfortunately there is not enough research about Tarcan in Turkey,"
M. Å~^evki Capan Capan, an academic from Mugla University, and one
of the few to tackle the subject, said to the Hurriyet Daily News &
Economic Review. "Maybe it’s because almost all of the documents
about him are in the Ottoman language."
In 1912, when the Ottoman Empire was represented in the Olympics for
the first time, Tarcan headed the Turkish delegation. Since the Muslim
community at that time did not practice sports other than archery
and wrestling, the Olympic squad consisted of two Armenian athletes.
"The two Armenians, Vahram Papazyan and Mıgırdic Mıgıryan, had
to pay their own travel expenses to go to Stockholm," says Capan,
who admires Tarcan and can conduct research in the Ottoman language.
The achievement of getting the Ottoman Empire into the Olympics
spurred Tarcan onward. In the ensuing years, he participated in the
International Olympic Committee, thanks to his contacts with committee
founder Pierre de Coubertin.
Political problems
Part of the reason why Tarcan put his heart and soul into
sports was that he had some political problems with the Ottoman
administration. Around 1908, Tarcan was interested in politics as
well, but was isolated by his open support for the constitutional
monarchy. Frustrated with that avenue, Tarcan focused on his sporting
career and went to Sweden. Besides his Olympic achievements, Tarcan
also promoted physical education for students.
"Tarcan’s approach to sports was heavily influenced by P. Henrik
Ling’s Swedish Gymnastics system, which focuses on human health and
body fitness." Capan said.
After returning to Turkey, Tarcan strived to spread sports throughout
the Ottoman Empire. First, he gave physical-education lessons to
male high-school students, then tried to get the females to join in
too. Though he faced prejudices and difficulties at first, he finally
managed to his fulfill his vision of "sports for everyone."
Once he succeeded in overcoming gender discrimination in sports
education, Tarcan moved on to educate pre-school children, visiting
Germany and Belgium to research that subject, eventually publishing
the book "Children Suffering from Aclasis or Abnormality."