Neslihan Demir
Personal information
Full nameNeslihan Demir Güler
NicknameThe Iron Lady
NationalityTurkish
Born (1983-12-09) 9 December 1983 (age 40)
Eskişehir, Turkey
HometownEskişehir, Turkey
Height1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Weight72 kg (159 lb)[1]
Spike315 cm (124 in)
Block306 cm (120 in)
Volleyball information
PositionOpposite/Outside Hitter
Number17
Career
YearsTeams
1998–2002
2002–2006
2006–2008
2008–2010
2010–2017
2017–2018		Yeşilyurt
VakıfBank Güneş Sigorta
CV Tenerife
VakıfBank Güneş Sigorta
Eczacıbaşı VitrA
Galatasaray
National team
1997–2016Turkey
Medal record
Women's volleyball
Representing  Turkey
World Grand Prix
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Ningbo Team
European Championships
Silver medal – second place 2003 Turkey Team
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Italy/Serbia Team
European League
Silver medal – second place 2009 Kayseri Team
Silver medal – second place 2011 Istanbul Team
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Ankara Team
Mediterranean Games
Gold medal – first place 2005 Almeria Team
Silver medal – second place 2009 Pescara Team
Silver medal – second place 2013 Mersin Team

Neslihan Demir (born 9 December 1983) is a retired Turkish volleyball star. She is one of the most successful athletes of Turkey and has been among FIVB Heroes. She represented her country as the flag bearer at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the official advertisement face of Turkey for the 2020 Summer Olympics candidateship along with basketballer Hedo Türkoğlu. She was a left-handed opposite hitter and won numerous individual awards in the international tournaments. She studied at Gazi University.[2]

Career

Neslihan Demir started playing volleyball at Eskişehir DSİ Bentspor in 1995. She played for Yeşilyurt, VakıfBank Güneş Sigorta, Spar Tenerife Marichal, Eczacıbaşı and Galatasaray during her career. She played hundreds of times for Turkish national team at all age levels.

At age 19, Demir was the leading player in the Turkish team that won silver medal at the 2003 European Championship in Turkey making her a star in her home country and in the volleyball scene. Her popularity increased immensely during 2003 World Cup where she was 2nd in Best Scorer and Best Server rankings. Owing to her powerful spikes and serves, she was nicknamed as Demir Leydi (The Iron Lady) which is a reference to her family name Demir.

Playing with VakıfBank Güneş Sigorta she won CEV Top Teams Cup and was named as MVP in 2004. Later, she was awarded Best Scorer in CEV Champions League in 2006.[3] While playing for Tenerife, Demir took a break from volleyball to become a mother in 2007–08 season.

She was awarded Best Scorer at the 2006 World Championship and 2010 World Championship consecutively.[4] She is the first and only volleyball player to achieve this feat.

Demir won two FIVB Club World Championship and a CEV Champions League championships with Eczacıbaşı. She won the Best Spiker award at the 2013-14 CEV Champions League.[5]

Demir was awarded Sportsperson of the Year by Milliyet in 2006 and Volleyball Player of the Year by Sabah in 2003 and 2004. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she was chosen to be the flagbearer of her home country.[6] She was named The Ultimate Volleyball Team Leader and honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award at CEV European Volleyball Gala ceremonies in 2014 and 2019 respectively.[7][8]

Demir was selected as FIVB Hero by FIVB in 2012.[9] She was also selected for Roster 100 by FIVB as one of the 100 most influential volleyball players between 2010 and 2020, being one of the eight female opposite hitters in the selection.[10]

Personal life

Neslihan Demir married Orkun Darnel, captain of the Galatasaray Swimming team, on 16 July 2006.[11] The couple have a daughter named Zeynep Penelope.[12] Orkun Darnel became manager of Galatasaray Daikin women's volleyball team later.[13] The couple announced their divorce in March 2013.[14] Demir has been married to actor Kamil Güler since 17 June 2014. After retiring from professional volleyball, she worked as a consultant in the Turkish Volleyball Federation. She took up the position of General Manager at her former club Vakıfbank from 2020 to 2023.

Clubs

Awards

Individuals

National team

Clubs

See also

References

[15]

  1. ^ a b Neslihan Demir's profile on her official website Archived 3 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Voleybol Kafilesi Listesi" (PDF) (in Turkish). Universiade 2005 Izmir. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  3. ^ FIVB. "Portuondo named best spiker in CEV Indesit Champions League". Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  4. ^ FIVB. "Russia repeat as world champions". Retrieved 14 November 2010.
  5. ^ "Dinamo KAZAN dethrones VakifBank to claim the 2014 Champions League title". Baku, Azerbaijan: CEV. 16 March 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  6. ^ Staff (20 July 2012). "Bayrağı Neslihan taşıyacak" [Neslihan Carries the Flag] (in Turkish). TRT Spor. Archived from the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  7. ^ "CEV Awards Europe's Best Volleyball Players". Volleywood. 28 June 2014.
  8. ^ "CEV honors best achievements at European Volleyball Gala". WorldofVolley. 25 October 2019.
  9. ^ Balkan Volleyball Association (4 May 2012). "FIVB's Heroine: Neslihan Demir!". Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  10. ^ "#ROSTER100 PRESENTS: Neslihan Demir - Turkey's Iron Lady". Volleyball World. 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  11. ^ "Filenin Sultanı Neslihan Evlendi". Haber Vitrini (in Turkish). 17 July 2006. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  12. ^ "Neslihan Darnel ailecek Londra'da". Son Dakika (in Turkish). 27 July 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  13. ^ "Herkes begenebilir ama o benim karım". Haber 61 (in Turkish). 15 December 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  14. ^ "Neslihan ve Orkun Darnel çifti boşandı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 27 March 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  15. ^ "Neslihan Demir Kimdir". Haberedelim. Retrieved 17 July 2021.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Neslihan Demir.
Olympic Games Preceded byMehmet Özal Flagbearer for  Turkey London 2012 Succeeded byRıza Kayaalp Awards Preceded by Thaísa Menezes Best Server of FIVB World Grand Prix 2012 Succeeded byIncumbent Preceded by Margareta Kozuch Best Scorer of Women's European Volleyball Championship 2011 Succeeded byIncumbent Preceded by Yumilka Ruíz Best Scorer of FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship 2006, 2010 Succeeded byIncumbent Preceded bynew creation Best Scorer of Women's European Volleyball League 2009, 2010 Succeeded by Helena Havelková Preceded bynew creation Most Valuable Player of Women's European Volleyball League 2009 Succeeded by Jelena Nikolić
Turkey squads
Eczacıbaşı Vitra squads
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