Sebahattin Oglago

Sebahattin Oglago (born June 25, 1984 in Muş, Turkey) is an Olympic skier competing in the cross-country discipline.

Sebahattin comes from a large family of 14 siblings, all raised in the Eastern Turkey city of Muş. At the age of 11, he followed four of his brothers into wrestling and competed for two years. After trying cross-country skiing for the first time, he switched over in 1997. He needed only two seasons to become a national junior champion in 1999-2000. In 2001, Oglago competed for the first time in national uniform at the Junior Olympic Games.

As a result of his swift progress, he was selected for the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, U.S. ahead of his older and much more experienced teammates. Despite his insufficient performance, the experience he gained at the Olympics was tremendous. Since then, he won the 2003 Balkan Championships, competed in two World Ski Championships and amassed enough ranking points to qualify for the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy.

Achievements

*2002
** Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, U.S.
*** 30km: did not finish due to injury
*** Sprint: 60th
** Balkan Championships: 2nd

*2003
** World Ski Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy
*** 30km: 56th
*** Sprint: 61st
** Balkan Championship: 1st

*2004
** World Junior Championships in Stryn, Norway
*** 30km: 25th
*** 10km: 29th
** FIS World Cup in Kuusamo, Finland
*** 15km: 94th 87.41pts

*2005
** World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany
*** 15km: 86th 128.18 pts
** FIS Race in Campra, Switzerland
*** 15km: 12th 120.76 pts

*2006
**Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy
*** 15 km Classical: 42:18.9 (56th)
*** Team sprint (Semifinal 1): 19:46.5 (12th)
*** 30 km Pursuit (15+15): 1h28:03.8 (66th)

Other family members

Following members of his family are also competing in cross-country skiing for Turkey.
* Fehmi Oglago (January 1, 1984)
* Tahsin Oglago (July 1, 1984)
* Burhan Oglago (September 3, 1986)
* Yucel Oglago (May 16, 1986)
* Ebeddin Oglago (March 4, 1987)
* Samet Oglago (August 10, 1987)
* Emrah Oglago (January 1, 1988)

References

* [http://www.visaeurope.com/aboutvisa/pdf/SabahattinOglago_EnglishProfile.pdf Biography at Team Visa Europe website]
* [http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/disciplines/cross-country/competitorbiographies.html?listid=&lastname=Oglago&gender=ALL&firstname=&nation=&status=OE&fiscode=&Search=Search FIS official website]