Taylan returns to form

Turkish Nurcan Taylan reached a new high with three medals in the European Championship, marking a return in her career that almost ended last year. This was her first major medal in four years, and Taylan signals she won't wait that long for the next one.

Turkey's first female Olympic gold medalist (Athens Games in 2004) Nurcan Taylan wrote a new version of the phoenix story when she won the European championship only a few months after retiring from the sport following a poor Olympic showing last summer.

Not too long ago, Taylan decided to quit weightlifting after failing to defend her Olympic title at the Beijing Games in August. If it were not for the Turkish Weightlifting Federation president Hasan Akkuş's persuasion, she might not have returned to the game. But she did, and what a return that was.

Treble of gold medals

Taylan won the gold medal in the European Women's Weightlifting Championship in Bucharest in the 48-kilogram category. The 25-year-old lifted 88 kilograms in snatch. With 108 kilograms in the clean and jerk and 196 kilograms in total, Taylan won a treble of golds, marking her return to form.

The last time she won a gold medal at a high-profile event was in 2005, when she won the Mediterranean Games in Almeria, Spain. Taylan not only ended her four-year drought with the victory, she also managed to regain her self-confidence.

"I am elated," she said after her three golds. "That was the most beautiful competition of my life, after the 2004 Athens."

"I was reborn in Bucharest," she said.

Besides her damaged self-confidence, Taylan had to overcome a lack of training, which occurred during her time away from the sport. "I did not train for months," she said. "I just trained with the national team in the last two months, and then came to Bucharest."

"I did what I am supposed to," she explained. "Weightlifting is being reborn in Turkey. We will prove ourselves in the world championships and 2012 London Olympic Games."

Apart from Taylan, Erol Bilgin won three gold medals for Turkey, as he swept the men's 62- kilogram category, and Sedat Artuç clinched the silver medal in the men's 62-kilogram. In the women's 53-kilogram events, Turkey's Aylin Daşdelen got two silver medals and one bronze medal while compatriot and rival Emine Bilgin earned one silver and two bronzes.

With six of the 15 categories wrapped up, Turkey leads the medal rankings table with six golds.