Adem Asil: "I won’t quit gymnastics until I become Olympic champion"

For a few short moments at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Türkiye’s Adem Asil could nearly taste his lifelong dream coming true.

First to go in the men’s vault final, he drilled his opening run, a front handspring double pike front with a half twist. Nearly perfect in the air, the most noticeable deduction was a small hop on the landing.

Asil’s score reflected the effort – a massive 15.266, a mark that would have been the highest days earlier during the qualifying round.

But the now 25-year-old came up short on his second vault, putting his hands on the mat, racking up deductions. His 13.633 score left him with a 14.449 average and sixth place.

Asil needed only 14.301 on his second vault to have taken the gold, a feat clearly within his capability after scoring 14.433 on it days earlier.

Three years removed from that day, Asil says it has very much fueled his career ever since.

“If that mishap hadn’t happened, I would have been first and become the Olympic champion. But I see this as a blessing, I believe everything happens for a reason,” he told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview. “Maybe all the medals I won after that were because of that reason. I even remember after that final, when we went to the (Olympic) village, everyone was saying, ‘Don't be sad, it's okay, you're still young.’ I was really sad and upset. I didn't eat anything that day because I missed out on something big.”

Despite the incredible disappointment he felt, Asil gathered the strength to remain positive.

“To get over it, I told myself, ‘This has been a great experience for you,’” he said. “I believed that using this experience, understanding it, could bring more success.”

He was right.

Since the Tokyo Games, Asil has collected eight European medals including a historic all-around crown last year. In 2022, he struck gold on the still rings at the World Championships.

A big move

Asil started gymnastics at age 5, living in Egypt. His older brother, already in the sport, took him to training sessions. He was hooked.

“Entering that gymnastics hall, being able to do somersaults, doing these fun things, that was what first attracted me to it,” he recalls.

Balancing training and schoolwork was not easy, Asil says, recounting a schedule that had him leaving the house at 8 in the morning only to return after 10 at night.

“Doing both at the same time was very difficult,” admitted Asil. “My childhood was very difficult at the time.”

Following the 2017 World Championships, Asil moved to Türkiye, later becoming a citizen and representing the nation in international competition starting in the 2020 season cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Asil credits the move for his success in the sport.

“I would say my career would have gone somewhere else,” he says of the move. “Because here I work with real champions, Ibrahim Colak, Ferhat Arican and Ahmet Onder are all in the same gym.

“The atmosphere in Egypt was a bit different,” he continued. “I wanted to be the best there, and I felt like I was already the best when I was there. There was no one better than me. So, I didn't have a role model there.”

Paris 2024 awaits

With Asil’s second trip to the Olympic Games rapidly approaching, there’s no need to look for inspiration.

“I’ve always dreamed of an Olympic championship since I was a kid. I won’t quit gymnastics until I become Olympic champion, it really motivates me,” he said. “The goal is huge, but I remind and motivate myself every day to achieve it. I think I’ll keep motivating myself to continue after achieving that goal, saying, ‘Why not become an Olympic champion… again?’”

His success – and the prospect of more soon – hasn’t changed him, he says: “I am the same as when Adem Asil first came to Türkiye. There is no difference at all.”

And perhaps that’s – at least in part – due to the vault that changed everything for him.

“That [vault final] could be the turning point of my career for me because after that I started winning all the medals,” he said. “The only thing left now is Paris, and I’m really looking forward to it.”