Gazi Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Anesteziyoloji ve Reanimasyon Anabilim Dalı Öğretim Üyesi Prof. Dr. Berrin Günaydın, Atletizm Birliği tarafından düzenlenen 19. Avrupa Veteranlar Atletizm Şampiyonası’nda (EVACS) ayrı kategorilerde 7’nci ve 8’inci oldu. Prof. Dr. Berrin Günaydın akademik kimliğinin yanı sıra sporcu kimliğiyle de adından söz ettiriyor. Günaydın uluslararası arenada elde ettiği başarılarla Gazi Üniversitesi’ni gururlandırıyor. 22-31 Ağustos 2014 tarihleri arasında İzmir’de yapılan EVACS’da Prof. Dr. Berrin Günaydın kendi yaş grubunda 800 metrede Avrupa 7’ncisi, 1500 metredeyse Avrupa 8’incisi olarak şampiyonaya damgasını vurdu. Berrin Günaydın sporda elde ettiği başarılarla ilgili olarak Gazi Haber’in sorularını yanıtladı
Berrin Günaydın answered Gazi Haber’s questions about her achievements in sports.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I have been working as a professor in the Department of Anesthesia at Gazi Medical Faculty since 2007, where I first started working as an assistant. I am a faculty member of the anesthesia department responsible for the operations of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Apart from that, I have a sports background. On the one hand, I was a licensed volleyball player at the Social Insurance Club (SSK), and on the other hand, I was a member of the athletics and volleyball team of my school, Atatürk Anatolian High School. Frankly speaking, I had an intense interest in sports. When I was playing for the SSK Stars team, I played for both the youth team and the A team. My time outside of school was spent training and playing almost 4-5 days a week. While studying at Ankara Faculty of Medicine, I continued to play for the SSK A team and Faculty Team for a while, but due to the intensity of my studies, I took a break from my regular sports life. I have been doing fitness-cardio 5-6 days a week for 3 years. Recently, athletics has brought a new color to my sports life.
How did you apply for the contest?
Through an athlete friend of mine, Dr. Serpil Çilingiroğlu, I learned about the EVACS championship. I learned that the 19th edition of this ambitious European Veteran Athletics Championship, in which licensed veteran athletes participate, would be held in Izmir, Turkey. With the encouragement of my colleague and friend, I applied for this competition
What kind of work did you do in preparation for the championship?
I increased the frequency of the athletics training I had done before and focused entirely on running 800 and 1500 meters for this race. For this, I worked regularly 5-6 days a week (3 days of athletics and 2-3 days of strength and endurance training) under the coaching of Çağrı Altundarak from Hacettepe University Faculty of Sports Sciences. My training consisted of timed runs, warm-up and relaxation for a total of 6 weeks until the competition.
How did you motivate yourself?
Indeed, ‘starting is half the battle’. After making the decision to start and registering, I prepared in the same way I used to motivate myself when I was an athlete. We already have the desire and goal to be constantly successful coming from academics and the medical profession. Since I believe that one can be successful by working seriously and disciplinedly, I didn’t give up even though I was demoralized from time to time. When your body is overloaded as a result of training in the July heat and at the end of a busy working day, your resistance can easily break down. I tore my upper leg muscle 10 days before the competition. Thanks to the cell regenerating treatments of my sports physician teachers, I was able to participate in both final competitions. I even had to participate in the 1500 meter final run before I fully recovered. The degrees I got made me so happy that I even forgot all the pain I suffered.
What are the positive aspects of this competition for you?
It was incredible for me to run on the same track with Maria Dolores Jimenes, a former European champion and the winner of the 800 and 1500 meters finals. She congratulated me for being the only Turkish athlete in the W45 category and also an academic athlete. The day of the 1500 meters was my first day, it was the first time I ran in the National jersey at a European Championships. During the race, the Turkish National Team athletes cheering me from the tribune gave me a lot of strength. In the 800 meters final race, one person did not participate and while running, two athletes from Germany and England could not finish the race. I improved my time in training. I was able to reduce my time from 4. 15 minutes to 3. 23. I am a person who is proud to carry my university and my department on national and international platforms in the field of obstetric anesthesia. Thanks to the experience of this identity, it was not difficult for me to compete with foreigners. However, I enjoyed being successful on a completely different platform from my professional job.
What did you do after the contest?
The first thing I did when I returned from the competition was to celebrate and share my success with my family and friends who supported me and my coach who prepared me. I told them that there was a faculty member and an academic athlete from Gazi University Faculty of Medicine in Izmir at EVACS. It was important for our country to host a championship like EVACS. I sincerely congratulate the Turkish Athletics Federation and the EVACS organizing committee.
Bundan sonra katılmayı planladığınız bir yarışma var mı?
Önümüzdeki sene sadece sağlık çalışanlarının katıldığı 2015’te 36.’sı yapılacak olan World Medical Health Games’e (Dünya Sağlık Tıp Oyunları) katılmayı planlıyorum.2017’de de yeniden EVACS’a katılmayı çok istiyorum. Bu süreçte daha iyi hazırlanarak koşu derecelerimi kısaltıp daha başarılı olmak için elimden geleni yapacağım.
What would you like to say at the end?
No matter what branch we work in, I think that the brains of bodies that do sports will be healthier and those who do sports will be engaged in positive things. Doing sports should be a part of life, not something extra. Just as we don’t give up eating and sleeping, we should dare to make time for sports. Because a sporting body is healthy, beautiful and sport is beautiful!
