Gulcan Palavan has defied the odds to become an international athlete for Turkey, breaking down deep-rooted gender and cultural barriers on her laborious path to glory.

The relentless runner, aged 21, was born in a remote and impoverished village situated in the Gole district of Ardahan, a mountainous province in northeastern Turkey near the Georgian border.

The fifth child of a family of seven, she was raised by illiterate parents, and aspired to be more than a shepherd like her father.

She discovered her running skills when she was chasing after cattle in elevated green pastures, and was eventually selected for the Turkish national team, even though she wasn't able to afford the proper shoes for competition.

Palavan showed her massive potential when she won her first international medal by finishing third at the World International Mountain Running Youth Cup in Bulgaria in 2015.

"I love running. Whenever I feel bluesy or depressed, I go outside to run," she told Xinhua after a session of hard training in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, where she moved to two years ago.

An unnamed female benefactor financially supported her. But Palavan explained that a more sustainable sponsor would be welcomed for her to continue training in the city's extensive sports facilities with her current coaches.

Palavan's inspiring story is not only limited to her athletic achievements.

She managed to escape from becoming a child bride in her native village, breaking down an objectionable tradition that her mother and sisters had to abide by.

"I ran for my freedom. Otherwise, I would have ended up being married for years now after finishing elementary school," Palavan said.

"Graduating from high school and becoming an athlete would have been a distant dream."

Palavan currently divides her time between training for the 2024 Paris Olympics and getting ready for university entrance exams. In college, she hopes to study sports, which she describes as "the meaning of her life".

Early and forced marriage prevails as a disturbing reality in several parts of Turkey. Although schooling campaigns and financial aid to families aim to curb it, the practice lingers, particularly in rural areas.

"Especially in remote and rural areas, this illegal but socially accepted practice still widely exists, and Gulcan might have well been a child bride. But she overcame her fate by running," Melek Ozgul, an activist advocating an end to forced marriages, told Xinhua.

"It is quite difficult to break this social barrier, but she did it and became a model for other girls in her situation who do not want to marry while they are still at school," she said.

Palavan's mother and two sisters were married at the age of 13 and 14, and her parents wanted her to do the same.

"I did not want to end up like them. I wanted both to run and work," Palavan explained, noting that when she first came to Istanbul, a metropolis of 16 million people incomparable to her native village, she worked in different jobs, including dishwashing in a restaurant and house cleaning.

Now she inspires many other young girls from her region and elsewhere.

"I consider myself a role model and want to be a trainer to help them in the future. I do not want them to go through what I had to," Palavan said.

The young athlete also stressed that she would love to visit and eventually train in China, where "there are many opportunities for athletes of her kind".

Xinhua