Emircan Haney is a Turkish national archer who competes in the recurve bow discipline and has continued his career with the Muğla Metropolitan Municipality sports club. At the 2025 World Archery Cup Finals, he won the gold medal to become champion and was named the best archer of the year in his category by World Archery Federation. Over his fifteen-year sporting career, he has represented national teams across various age groups on both national and international stages.

^{Emircan Haney and his family (AA)}

He was born around 2001. His mother is Hafize Haney and his father, Osman Haney, works as a cleaner. According to his family, as a child he designed his own arrows and bows using wooden scraps. He officially began archery in 2011 in the village of Bencik, in the Yatağan district of Muğla. His encounter with Ejder Sözen, a family physician assigned to the village who was also an archery coach, laid the foundation for his sporting career.

^{Emircan Haney (AA)}

During his earliest training days, he practiced posture and technical positions using only a resistance band, rather than professional equipment. These initial sessions took place in an abandoned tobacco warehouse, as directed by his coach. At the start of his sporting journey, he faced criticism from locals who believed he should focus on agricultural work and that archery would not benefit him. His father initially considered having him quit the sport, fearing it might interfere with his education, but after he won his first medal, his family began to fully support him.

Shortly after beginning his career, he placed second in Turkey at his first national competition in 2011. Over the following seven years, he won a total of five gold, six silver, and five bronze medals in national competitions and broke the Turkish national record twice.

^{Emircan Haney (AA)}

He first wore the national team uniform in 2017 in the recurve bow cadet (youth) age category. His first major international tournament at the national team level was the World Archery Championships for Juniors and Cadets, held in Argentina from 2 to 8 October 2017. At this event, he and his teammate Dilara Sevindik won the gold medal in the recurve bow cadet mixed team competition to become world champions. He also earned a silver medal as part of the recurve bow cadet men’s national team alongside Gökhan Demirbaş and Bünyamin Yankaç, becoming world runners-up.

After completing his tenure in the younger age-group national teams, he began competing continuously at the A National Team level starting in 2022.

The most successful phase of his international career came during the 2025 season. Haney won a silver medal at the Madrid leg and a bronze medal at the Antalya leg of the 2025 World Archery Cup. With the ranking points earned in these events, he qualified among the top eight archers in his discipline and earned a spot at the World Cup Finals held in Nanjing, the People’s Republic of China, on 18–19 October 2025.

^{Emircan Haney (AA)}

In the quarterfinals of the Finals, he defeated France’s Nicolas Girard with a score of 147–146. In the semifinals, he faced Dutch archer Mike Schloesser; the match ended 147–147 in regular time, but Haney won the tie-break arrows to advance to the final. In the gold medal match, he defeated Denmark’s Mathias Fullerton 149–148 to become champion in the men’s recurve bow category and claim the gold medal.

Following his World Cup victory in Nanjing and his consistent performances throughout the season, Haney was nominated as one of ten elite archers for the “Athlete of the Year” award, presented annually by the World Archery Federation at the end of each calendar year.

To determine the winner, the federation conducted a global public vote lasting forty days, which concluded on 13 February 2026. Haney received the highest level of public support and was named the 2025 Athlete of the Year in the recurve bow category. During the voting period, he received support from local institutions including the Muğla Governorship, Muğla Metropolitan Municipality, and district mayoral offices. The award was officially announced to the public on 27–28 March 2026 by both the athlete and the federation.

Haney maintains a rigorous training discipline. During national team camps, he performs an average of ten hours of shooting and technical practice daily. His methodology places strong emphasis not only on physical conditioning but also on mental training. He prioritizes mental exercises to manage anxiety and stress during competition and to enhance focus and concentration.

^{Mete Gazoz (right 2), Hazla Burun (left) in women’s recurve bow, and Emircan Haney (left 2) in men’s recurve bow (AA)}

Following the International Olympic Committee’s decision in 2025 to include recurve bow archery in the Olympic program, Haney has directed his goals toward the Olympic Games. His long-term objective is to secure an Olympic quota for Türkiye at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics—the first time the discipline will be officially included in the Olympic schedule—and to win a medal at the event.