Meaningful Support from P&G to 35 Olympic Athletes and Their Mothers

P&G Supporting 35 Olympic Athletes and Their Mothers Procter & Gamble (P&G), the producer of brands including Fairy, Ariel, and Prima, which launched the Olympic Mothers project with the goal of promoting sports culture in Turkey, has increased the number of athletes and mothers it supports to 35 based on its 35th year in Turkey. Since 2014, P&G has continued the Olympic Mothers project, and since 2017 has been supporting athletes and mothers who will represent our country at the Olympic Games. Tankut Turnaoğlu, Chairman of the Board of P&G Turkey, Caucasus and Central Asia, stated: "In our 35th year, we are increasing the number of athletes and mothers we support with our 'Better Every Day' message to 35. I believe that our support on the road to Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games will provide them with important contributions." [caption id="attachment_140065" align="aligncenter"] Chairman of Turkey's National Olympic Committee Prof. Dr. Uğur Erdener, İlke Özyüksel, Gülcan Özyüksel, P&G Turkey, Caucasus and Central Asia Board Chairman Tankut Turnaoğlu[/caption] Chairman of Turkey's National Olympic Committee Prof. Dr. Uğur Erdener stated: "As Turkey's National Olympic Committee, we are very pleased to be accompanying and contributing to the values created by P&G Turkey in our country for 35 years through sports, and we hope to support Turkish sports with our project for many more years." Procter & Gamble (P&G), one of the world's largest personal care and cleaning products companies and the producer of brands such as Fairy, Prima, and Ariel, launched the Olympic Mothers Project in 2014 together with Turkey's National Olympic Committee (TNOC), recognizing the importance of sports for healthy and confident generations. Subsequently, in 2017, P&G expanded this project by providing support to 30 athletes and mothers who would represent Turkey at the Olympics. Now, in its 35th year in Turkey, P&G is expanding its support to 35 athletes and mothers. P&G announced this support at a meeting attended by Chairman of Turkey's National Olympic Committee Prof. Dr. Uğur Erdener and Olympic athletes with their mothers. The slogan for the road to Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games will be "Better Every Day". Through the Olympic Mothers project, P&G is providing material and moral support to 35 Olympic athletes and mothers competing in disciplines including shooting, athletics, badminton, cycling, boxing, figure skating, gymnastics, fencing, golf, wrestling, judo, canoeing, table tennis, modern pentathlon, taekwondo, triathlon, sailing, and swimming. P&G Turkey, Caucasus and Central Asia Board Chairman Tankut Turnaoğlu, stating that they were preparing to celebrate their 35th year in Turkey in 2022, said that with their brands, P&G is present with at least one product in 9 out of every 10 households in Turkey, and that through their social contribution projects, they have improved the lives of millions of people. Turnaoğlu said: "In just the last two years, we have carried out 42 Acts of Goodwill. In our 35th year in Turkey, saying 'Love Opens Every Door,' we will add new initiatives to our Acts of Goodwill and continue our path with love. With our social contribution projects implemented in different regions of our country, we touch the lives of 3 million people annually, and the Olympic Mothers project, which we launched 8 years ago, is among the finest examples of this. Within the scope of our Corporate Citizenship principles, we prioritize sports in projects that add value to citizens' lives. In doing so, not only do we support popular disciplines such as football, basketball, or volleyball, but we also support athletes competing in Olympic disciplines and their mothers, aiming to promote sports culture throughout Turkey. Today, with the project we launched in 2014 and expanded in 2017, we are increasing the number of athletes and mothers we support to 35, based on our 35th year. In other words, we support not only our athletes but also their mothers, because in fact, the most important figure in a child's life is their mother, and for this reason we are extending our hand to our mothers. If we support our mothers, help them break their prejudices, and encourage them, we know we will provide the greatest support to children and young people," he said. Turnaoğlu continued: "Our Olympic Mothers project has special significance for us in our 35th year. In our new age, we emphasize the importance and power of 'love.' When the words mother and love are mentioned together, perhaps they bring together the strongest and most positive emotions in all our lives. In light of these reasons, we know that these initiatives are important. Moreover, as we have seen in our research, both the number of children growing up with sports in Turkey is increasing, and the athletes we support are returning to our country with medals. Now, I believe that with this support we are providing by saying 'Better Every Day,' our athletes will bring our country many more achievements," he said. Speaking at the meeting, Chairman of Turkey's National Olympic Committee Prof. Dr. Uğur Erdener: "As Turkey's National Olympic Committee, within the scope of our Olympic Mothers project that we have been implementing with Procter & Gamble Turkey since 2014, we will support our 35 athletes on the road to Paris 2024. Thus, we will enable our athletes to focus on their training and performance development, and contribute to our country achieving better results at the Olympics. We are very pleased that P&G Turkey has been accompanying and contributing to the values it has created in our country for 35 years through sports, and we hope to support Turkish sports with our project for many more years," he said. [caption id="attachment_140067" align="aligncenter"] Chairman of Turkey's National Olympic Committee Prof. Dr. Uğur Erdener, Buse Naz Çakıroğlu, Duygu Çakıroğlu, P&G Turkey, Caucasus and Central Asia Board Chairman Tankut Turnaoğlu[/caption]

Supported Athletes

Shooting: Ömer Akgün, Athletics: Berke Akçam, Ersu Şaşma, Meryem Bekmez, Necati Er, Pınar Akyol and Salih Korkmaz, Badminton: Aliye Demirbağ and Neslihan Yiğit, Cycling: Ahmet Örken, Boxing: Buse Naz Çakıroğlu, Esra Yıldız and Hatice Akbaş, Figure skating: Furkan Akar, Gymnastics: Nazlı Savranbaşı, Fencing: Enver Yıldırım and Nisanur Erbil, Golf: Can Marko Özdemir, Wrestling: Evin Demirhan, Kerem Kamal, Yasemin Adar and Zeynep Yetgil, Judo: Bilal Çiloğlu and Mihraç Akkuş, Canoeing: Hilal Avcı, Table tennis: Özge Yılmaz, Modern pentathlon: Buğra Ünal and İlke Özyüksel, Taekwondo: Emre Kutalmış Ateşli, Hakan Reçber and Hatice Kübra İlgün, Triathlon: Gultigin Er, Sailing: Dilara Uralp and Ecem Güzel, Swimming: Berkay Ömer Öğretir.  

Eight Medals from P&G Supported Athletes

While P&G supported 34 athletes through the Olympic Mothers project last year, 29 of these athletes qualified to represent our country at Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games. Eight of these athletes achieved success on the podium in Tokyo, winning medals for Turkey.  

Sports Equipment Donated, Special Seminars Held for Mothers

P&G organized various seminars through the Olympic Mothers project, reaching more than 24,000 mothers and raising awareness about how they can direct their children to "proper sports." Additionally, through its support efforts, P&G distributed 330,000 pieces of sports equipment to schools and 50,000 tracksuits to 300 schools. In addition to all this, when the brand launched the project in 2014, it also conducted Turkey's first Sports Culture Research, aiming to convey to the public the sports habits of families in Turkey, the obstacles they face, and their motivations. When P&G repeated its research in 2019, it found that the proportion of children engaging in regular sports increased from 2 out of every 10 to 3.  

Olympic Mothers Forest

Operating within its Corporate Citizenship principles, which include Environmental Sustainability, P&G launched an "Olympic Mothers Forest" last year with the Olympic Mothers. Through the forest implemented with Carrefour and CEVKO, P&G aims both to pass on the legacy of athletes and mothers to future generations and to leave a greener world for tomorrow.