İsmail Akçay

İsmail Akçay, born in 1942, is a Turkish athlete who specialised in marathon running. He was born in the village of Akçakaya in Balıkesir Province and finished primary school there before studying at the industrial vocational high school of Balıkesir. He then transferred to the sergeants' school in Ankara, where he became interested in athletics and went on to concentrate on marathon events. His result at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City was the best that Turkey had achieved in the Olympic marathon up to that time. After his competitive career he became an athletic trainer, and the article describes him as serving in that role in Balıkesir.