It is certainly incontrovertible that Turkey leaves the U23 European Championships and those of the U20 as a new leading nation in the European race walk.
At a youth level in women we had already noticed it in the European Cup where the trio composed of Meryem Bekmez, Evin Demir and Kader Dost won the team competition of the 10km U20 with the following placings: Bekmez first, Demir second and Dost fifth .
Even at the male level Turkey had picked up a bronze with Selman Ilhan fourth and Mustafa Tekdal coming nineteenth (and now recent bronze at the European Olympic Festival in Baku), while Ozgur Topsakal had been disqualified.
In the past, it was precisely the disqualifications that held back the results of the Turkish athletes, but now it would seem that the selector Mustafa Akyavaş managed to align the young athletes of Turkey with the traditional walk in Europe.
All this has meant that today Turkey is proposed at U23 and U20 level as the leading nation in Europe.
We have examined the medal table of the last five championships that we remember to be those of:
U23: Gavle 2019, Bydgoszcz 2017, Tallin 2015, Tampere 2013 and Ostrava 2011
U20: Boras 2019, Grosseto 2017, Eskilstuna 2015, Rieti 2013 and Tallin 2011
and we found that only the Russia of the years 2015 and earlier had managed to do better than Turkey in the two combined medals.
In fact, Russia before the suspension had managed to win:
- in 2015 between Eskilstuna and Tallin: seven medals out of twelve available
- in 2013 between Rieti and Tampere: four out of the twelve available
- in 2011 between Tallin and Ostrava: five out of the twelve available
Today Turkey, with four medals won between Gavle and Boras, is proposed as a possible alternative nation to the traditional ones of race walk in Europe.
In the following table we have summarized the medals for these ten championships for the benefit of our readers.
| Country | Medals | Championships: U23 and U20 |
| | | |
| Russia | 16 | Eskilstuna 2015: 4 - Tallin 2015: 3 - Rieti 2013: 2 - Tampere 2013: 2 - Tallin 2011: 3 - Ostrava 2011: 2 |
| Spain | 10 | Boras 2019: 1 - Grosseto 2017: 1 - Bydgoszcz 2017: 2 - Eskilstuna 2015: 2 - Tallin 2015: 1 - Rieti 2013: 1 - Tallin 2011: 1 - Ostrava 2011: 1 |
| Italy | 6 | Boras 2019: 1 - Rieti 2013: 1 - Tampere 2013: 2 - Ostrava 2011: 2 |
| Turkey | 5 | Boras 2019: 2 - Gavle 2019: 2 - Grosseto 2017: 1 |
| ANA | 5 | Gavle 2019: 2 - Grosseto 2019: 2 - Bydgoszcz 2017: 1 |
| Germany | 4 | Grosseto 2017: 1 - Bydgoszcz 2017: 1 - Tampere 2013 : 1 - Tallin 2011: 1 |
| Ukraine | 4 | Grosseto 2017: 1 - Tallin 2015: 1 - Tampere 2013: 1 - Tallin 2011: 1 |
| Poland | 3 | Boras 2019: 1 - Gavle 2019: 1 - Ostrava 2011: 1 |
| Czech Rep. | 3 | Tallin 2015: 1 - Rieti 2013: 2 |
| Belarus | 1 | Boras 2019 |
| France | 1 | Bydgoszcz 2017 |
| Great Britain | 1 | Gavle 2019 |
| Lithuania | 1 | Bydgoszcz 2017 |