Adem Asil (born 21 February 1999) is an Egyptian-born Turkish male artistic gymnast. He represented Turkey at the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games.[2] He is the 2022 World Champion on still rings and is the 2023 European all-around champion.

Adem Asil
Personal information
Alternative name(s)Abdelrahman Elgamal
Abdelrahman Elzamzamy
Abdelrahman El Zamzamy
Nickname(s)Abdel[1]
Country represented Turkey
Former countries represented Egypt
Born (1999-02-21) 21 February 1999 (age 25)
Alexandria, Egypt
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
LevelSenior International Elite
Years on national team2020–present (Turkey)
2007–2017 (Egypt)
Medal record
Men's artistic gymnastics
Representing  Turkey
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Liverpool Rings
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2023 Antalya All-Around
Gold medal – first place 2023 Antalya Rings
Silver medal – second place 2020 Mersin Team
Silver medal – second place 2022 Munich Rings
Silver medal – second place 2023 Antalya Team
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Basel Horizontal Bar
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Munich Team
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Munich All-Around
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Rimini Rings
Mediterranean Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Oran Team
Gold medal – first place 2022 Oran All-Around
Gold medal – first place 2022 Oran Vault
Silver medal – second place 2022 Oran Rings
Silver medal – second place 2022 Oran Horizontal Bar
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Oran Floor Exercise
Islamic Solidarity Games
Gold medal – first place 2021 Konya Team
Gold medal – first place 2021 Konya All-Around
Gold medal – first place 2021 Konya Rings
Silver medal – second place 2021 Konya Vault
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Konya Floor Exercise
World University Games
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Chengdu Rings

Born Abdelrahman Elzamzamy, he changed his name to Abdelrahman Elgamal when he moved to Turkey and competed under that name at a 2020 European Championship. In 2021, he changed it again to Adem Asil, as a response to the condition of changing a foreign name into Turkish, to obtain naturalization.[3][4]

Personal life

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Abdelrahman Elzamzamy was born in Alexandria, Egypt on 21 February 1999 to a middle-class Egyptian family.[5][6]

Gymnastics career

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Representing Egypt

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2017

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A member of the Egyptian national team, Elzamzamy took part in the Paris Challenge Cup in France and the Varna Challenge Cup in Bulgaria. He later competed at the World Championships in Montreal where he finished 37th in the all-around during qualification and did not advance to any event finals.[5]

Representing Turkey

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2018–2020

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Shortly after the 2017 World Championships, Elzamzamy's coach announced that he was moving to Turkey and invited Elzamzamy to showcase himself in front of the Turkish national coaches. They were impressed with "his work ethic, his evident strength, and his unshakable belief in himself" and invited him to train with the Turkish national team.[1] Elzamzamy moved to Turkey leaving his parents in Egypt while continuing training gymnastics in Turkey. After becoming a naturalized citizen in 2019 the International Gymnastics Federation approved his request for nationality change; however it wouldn't take effect until 2020.[7]

Elgamal competed for Turkey the first time at the 2020 Baku World Cup.[5] He later was chosen to represent Turkey at the 2020 European Championships in Mersin.[2] He helped Turkey win silver in the team event.[8] Additionally he finished fourth on rings and horizontal bar.

2021

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Elgamal began competing under the name Adem Asil in 2021. At the European Championships Asil finished fifth in the all-around during qualifications and therefore earned an individual Olympic berth to compete at the postponed 2020 Olympic Games. He suffered an injury during the all-around final and did not finish. However he competed during the horizontal bar final and won the bronze medal behind David Belyavskiy and Andy Toba. Asil next competed at the Osijek Challenge Cup and the Doha World Cup, picking up three medals at the former. At the Olympic Games Asil qualified to the all-around, rings, and vault finals. He finished fifteenth in the all-around, seventh on rings, and sixth on vault. Asil finished the year competing at the World Championships where he finished eleventh in the all-around.

2022

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Asil started the year competing at the World Cups in Cottbus, Baku, and Osijek. He competed at the Mediterranean Games where he helped Turkey win gold in the team event. Individually Asil won gold in the all-around and on vault, silver on rings and horizontal bar behind İbrahim Çolak and Marios Georgiou respectively, and bronze on floor exercise.

 
Asil (right) at the Islamic Solidarity Games

Asil next competed at the Islamic Solidarity Games where he helped Turkey once again win gold in the team event. Individually he won gold in the all-around and on rings, silver on vault, and bronze on floor exercise. In August Asil competed at the 2022 European Championships. On the first day of competition Asil won bronze in the all-around behind Joe Fraser and compatriot Ahmet Önder. He helped Turkey win bronze in the team event and individually he won silver on rings behind Eleftherios Petrounias.[9]

In September Asil competed at the Paris World Challenge Cup. He won gold on both vault and rings.[10]

At the World Championships Asil helped Turkey finish eleventh during qualifications – their highest placement in history. Individually Asil won gold on rings, earning Turkey's second gold medal on the event after İbrahim Çolak in 2019.[11]

2023

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Asil competed at the 2023 European Championships where he helped Turkey finish second as a team. Individually he won gold in the all-around, becoming the first Turkish gymnast to achieve the feat. During apparatus finals he won gold on rings and placed fifth on vault. Asil next competed at the World University Games where he helped the Turkish team finish ninth. Individually he won bronze on rings behind Lan Xingyu and Zou Jingyuan and placed fifth on vault.[12]

At the 2023 World Championships Asil helped Turkey finish tenth as a team during qualifications. Although they did not qualify for the team final, they qualified a full team to the 2024 Olympic Games for the first time.[13]

2024

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Asil competed at the 2024 European Championships where he won bronze on rings behind Eleftherios Petrounias and Nikita Simonov. He was named to the team to compete at the 2024 Olympic Games alongside Ferhat Arıcan, İbrahim Çolak, Emre Dodanlı, and Ahmet Önder; they finished ninth during qualifications. Individually Asil qualified to the rings final where he finished fifth.[14]

Competitive history

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Asil (right) at the 2022 European Championships
Year Event Team AA FX PH SR VT PB HB
Senior
representing   Egypt
2017 Varna Challenge Cup 7 5
World Championships 37
representing   Turkey
2019 Turkish Championships   5 4   5
2020 Turkish Championships        
Baku World Cup   7
European Championships   4 4
2021 Turkish Championships     4     4  
European Championships DNF 6  
Osijek Challenge Cup 6      
Doha World Cup 4 4
Olympic Games 15 7 6
Turkish Team Championships    
World Championships 11
2022 Cottbus World Cup 4  
Baku World Cup 8 6
Osijek Challenge Cup       5
Mediterranean Games            
Islamic Solidarity Games           7
European Championships     6  
Paris Challenge Cup    
Mersin Challenge Cup     8  
World Championships 11 WD   R1
Arthur Gander Memorial 5
Swiss Cup  
2023 Cottbus World Cup 5
Doha World Cup 4   8 4
DTB Pokal Team Challenge      
European Championships       5
World University Games 9 WD   5
World Championships 10 WD
Arthur Gander Memorial 7
Swiss Cup 6
2024 Antalya Challenge Cup    
European Championships 9  
Olympic Games 9 5

References

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  1. ^ a b "Athlete Inspiration: From Egypt to Turkey, World champion Asil forging a path toward more golden rings". International Gymnastics Federation. 10 January 2023.
  2. ^ a b Pancar, Sezgin; Erkan Tiryaki (12 December 2020). "Artistik Cimnastik Milli Takımı gümüş madalya kazandı". Anadolu News Agency (in Turkish). Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  3. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (23 April 2021). "Iordache, Asil Overcome Odds to Earn Olympic Berths". The Gymternet. Slowly but surely, Asil – who was then still competing as Abdelrahman Elzamzamy, and later as Abdelrahman Elgamal – improved under his new coaches.
  4. ^ "World Gymnastics Championships: World Champion Adem Asil changes country and name". News Briefs in English. 17 April 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "Mısır asıllı cimnastikçi Abdelrahman Elgamal, Türkiye adına yarışacak". Haberler (in Turkish). Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  6. ^ "طوكيو 2020 .. تركى من أصول مصرية يتأهل لـ نهائى 3 ميداليات فى الجمباز", mobtada.com, retrieved 14 April 2023
  7. ^ "Official News: Summary of decisions from the Executive Committee meeting". International Gymnastics Federation. 21 February 2019.
  8. ^ "Ukraine win first men's European team title in Mersin". International Olympic Committee. 12 December 2020.
  9. ^ "2022 European Championships results". European Gymnastics. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  10. ^ "USA dazzles in Paris with ten medals, including four gold". International Gymnastics Federation. 26 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Giarnni Regini-Moran and Rhys McClenaghan highlight historic first day of apparatus finals". International Olympic Committee. 5 November 2022.
  12. ^ "With a haul of nine golds, Chinese gymnasts dominate World University Games". International Gymnast Media. 6 August 2023.
  13. ^ "Tarihimizde İlk Kez Takım Olarak Olimpiyat'a Gidiyoruz!" [We are going to the Olympics as a team for the first time in our history!]. Turkish Gymnastics Federation (in Turkish).
  14. ^ "Men's Rings - Final results" (PDF). Olympics. 4 August 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
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