1.11.2022
The Mustafa V. Koç Sports Award, organised by Koç Holding and the Turkish Olympic Committee (TOC) for the sixth time on Tuesday 1 November, was this year awarded to the Adım Adım Formation which encourages volunteer-based social initiatives and charitable giving through sponsorship for sports like running.
The Adım Adım Formation is supports an array of social responsibility projects and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Turkey by providing financial resources and promotional support with events like its charity run.
Unity, achieving success together, teamwork and helpfulness constitute the founding philosophy of Adım Adım, which supports NGOs in many different fields, including: the environment, education, animal rescue, culture, art, sports, human rights, social services, science and technology. Values such as inclusion and reinforcing friendship resulted in Adım Adım becoming the first institution to be deemed worthy of the prestigious Mustafa V. Koç Sports Award’s Jury
Among the many reasons for Adım Adım receiving the award, were the formation’s commitment to encouraging mass participation in sport and the establishment of the Run After Goodness Platform, a charity-run digital platform to be used by volunteers who want to participate. Co-Founders Renay Onur and İtır Erhart accepted the award on behalf of the Adım Adım Formation.
Koç Holding Board Member and Mustafa V. Koç Sports Award Jury President Caroline N. Koç said:
“The Mustafa V. Koç Sports Award allows us to commemorate Mustafa together, and remember the values he held dear. It is a precious opportunity to share with the public the value he gave to sport and its athletes. Mustafa was not only in sport, he demonstrated the Olympic values throughout his life. He lived as a defender of the values of friendship, excellence and respect. He wholeheartedly believed that the unifying power of sports brings people together in solidarity. Mustafa was active in sports, and did not just compete to win! He always placed the values of sport and fair play ahead of success and performance. For this reason, together with our valuable project partner, the TOC, we first determined the permanent theme of the Mustafa V. Koç Sports Award in 2017 – 'Contribution to Olympic values.'"
Caroline N. Koç also thanked Slovakian Olympic shooter and International Olympic Committee (IOC) Member Danka Bartekova for her participation in the ceremony as a special guest, stating:
“I would like to thank our honored guest, Danka Bartekova, for being with us this evening. She has made significant contributions to the adoption and spread of Olympic values. She is an Olympic athlete who has won many medals in global and regional competitions and set an example for society with her values! She is a source of inspiration for all of us, especially with the many projects she carries out to empower women and develop youth. I wholeheartedly believe in introducing our children and youth to role models such as Danka so that more youth will adopt Olympic values as a lifestyle."
In closing her speech, Caroline N. Koç said:
“Mustafa was always bigger than life and lived a life that will always make him live on in the hearts of millions. It is a great pleasure to remember his name by touching all the human values he has and with sports, which is a subject he loved and believed in."
Meanwhile, TOC President Prof. Dr. Uğur Erdener said:
"We are delighted to further develop our long-standing friendship and cooperation with the Koç family with this award. Keeping the memory of the late Mustafa Koç alive and reflecting his values inspires many of us in business and many areas of life. Therefore, I once again commemorate Mustafa Koç, a respected businessman, athlete, sports manager, and supporter of sports. He also internalized and encouraged Olympic values in every aspect of his life. The Mustafa V. Koç Sports Award is more than just a sports award, with criteria such as embracing the Olympic values, being a good person, and inspiring the masses. And beyond sporting achievements, it is an honour and an inspiration to be better."
Uğur Erdener ended his speech by stating:
"Taha Akgül and Gizem Girişmen, Yasemin Adar, İlke Özyüksel, İbrahim Çolak, Mete Gazoz, and our women's volleyball national team were the previous winners of this exceptional award. They are accepted as role models in our society that best meet the criteria and our values. And today, the Adım Adım Formation, the award winner, has undoubtedly created the same values with its work and will reflect these values into Turkish sport and the people of our country in the future. Therefore, I congratulate them from the bottom of my heart.”
On receiving the award, Adım Adım Formation Co-Founder Itır Erhart commented:
"When I heard that we would receive this exceptional award given on behalf of an extraordinary person, Mustafa V. Koç, my eyes filled with tears of happiness and hope, two very intense emotions. That's why I want to talk about happiness and hope tonight.
"During ten years of philosophy education, we discussed the answers given by great philosophers to the question – what is happiness? After my first volunteering experience, I realised the answer was in Aristotle's concept of happiness - the sense of fulfillment we feel when we realise that we are realising our full potential and making a small contribution to the well-being of our species and other living things.
"We were hopeful when we were dreaming of Adım Adım, setting up the system and setting goals. I don't use the term hope as a kind of passive optimism, Polyannaism, that everything will be fine even if we do nothing. On the contrary, I am talking about a hope that invites individual and collective action towards reducing income inequality, problems in accessing education and health, solving the climate crisis, protecting biodiversity, and gender equality."
In addition, Adım Adım Formation Co-Founder Renay Onur said:
"We will continue to do better things as a member of the team deemed worthy of this award bearing the name of the esteemed Mustafa Koç.”
"It is a great pleasure to receive this award, which I consider as the Oscars of sports in Turkey, with Adım Adım, which I am proud to have helped found 15 years ago. The life stories and achievements of the amazing people who have received this award so far show that only special people can be here. I believe that the inspiration that sport gives to the world drives society and provides hope."
“With its runners, donors, and beneficiaries, the Adım Adım family has become a family of one million people in 15 years. Can the unifying power of sport come to life better? It is proof of how sport can strengthen social solidarity. Adım Adım makes everyone feel that they can be an athlete, like a hero, and that they can change a problem in society by taking action, not by complaining. Adım Adım made chasing goodness become an idiom and brought it to life."
In her speech at the ceremony, Danka Bartekova said:
“Nelson Mandela once said – ‘Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand.’ Today, we understand that athletes are much more than perfection on the sports field. Athletes are advocates, ambassadors and role models.
“We see young people look to sports heroes more than ever to learn, absorb their views and connect. Sport has the power to change the world. Mustafa V. Koç realised how important this is, which is why we are here today. As an athlete, what matters to everyone in Turkey is not to score goals, run faster, jump higher or hit the target. And I am grateful to Mustafa V. Koç who reminded me through the values he championed that what matters is creating a better world through sports.”
Reminding the words
"Sport speaks to young people in the language they understand," Olympic Shooter Danka Bartekova said: "Today, we understand that athletes are much more than perfection on the sports field. athletes; advocates, ambassadors, role models… We see young people look to sports heroes more than ever to learn, absorb their views and connect. Sport has the power to change the world. Mustafa V. Koç realizes how important this is, which is why we are here Today. As an athlete, what matters to everyone in Turkey is not to score goals, run faster, jump higher or hit the target; I am grateful to Mustafa V. Koç, who reminded me that it is to create a better world through sports for the values he left behind."
The selection committee for the Mustafa V. Koç Sports Award Selection Committee included:
• Hasan Arat, Vice President of the TOC and a European Olympic Committees Board member
• Prof. Dr. Hülya Aşçı, Fenerbahçe University Faculty of Sports Sciences, Physical Education and Sports Teaching Lecturer
• Efe Aydan, National Basketball Player, First Turkish Athlete Selected to the European Mix
• Turgay Demirel, International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Europe President, FIBA World Vice President, TOC Board of Directors Member, Honorary President of Turkish Basketbal Federation
• Oya Ünlü Kızıl, Board Member of İstanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation, WWF, Entek and Bilkom
The Mustafa V. Koç Sports Award Jury included:
• Caroline N. Koç, Koç Holding Board Member, Mustafa V. Koç Sports Award Jury Chairman
• Ömer M. Koç, Koç Holding Chairman of the Board
• Prof. Dr. Ugur Erdener, TOC President and IOC Member
About Adım Adım Formation:
Established in 2008, the Adım Adım Formation aims to promote solidarity between individuals and institutions by embracing social and ecological problems and taking action through sports. Adım Adım has been working to provide financial and promotional support to local, national, and international projects for 15 years through sports that require endurance, especially running. Remarkably, more than 120,000 volunteer sports fans and more than 1 million donors have created 130 million TL for more than 100 NGOs since the first day under the umbrella of the Adım Adım Formation, which establishes and manages platforms that bring together NGOs with volunteers.