Türkiye's Paralympics national team will set a new record with 94 athletes competing at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, surpassing their previous record of 87 from Tokyo 2020.
The Games, showcasing athletes with disabilities, will take place in Paris from Aug. 28 to Sept. 8.
Since its Paralympic debut in Barcelona 1992 with just one athlete, Türkiye has steadily increased its presence.
From not qualifying for Atlanta 1996 to sending 94 athletes to Paris, the country's participation has grown by an astounding 94 times over 24 years.
The Tokyo 2020 Games saw Türkiye competing with 87 athletes, and now, they aim to surpass that number once more.
15 sports diversity
Türkiye will compete in 15 different sports at Paris 2024, including goalball, football, archery, fencing, weightlifting, rowing, table tennis, athletics, tennis, triathlon, judo, archery, taekwondo, swimming and badminton.
The Turkish squad will feature notable teams like the defending champion Goalball Women’s Team with 6 players and the B1 Men’s Football Team with 10 players.
For the first time, the number of female athletes representing Türkiye will exceed their male counterparts.
At Paris 2024, 49 female athletes will compete, compared to 45 male athletes.
Türkiye will compete in team events in goalball and football, while also fielding athletes in individual sports.
Notably, the team will see significant representation in athletics, with 16 athletes qualifying, including seven from the special athletes category and five visually impaired athletes.
Medal hopes
The largest quota was achieved in athletics, with 16 athletes securing spots.
This is followed by judo (10), archery (9), taekwondo (8), table tennis (8) and shooting (8).
Türkiye’s medalists from Tokyo, including the Goalball Women’s Team and para table tennis player Abdullah Öztürk, will be aiming to defend their titles.
Global stage
The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will feature over 4,000 athletes from around the world, competing in 22 sports with 542 medals up for grabs.
Events include archery, athletics, badminton, visually impaired football, bocce, canoeing, cycling, equestrian, goalball, judo, weightlifting, rowing, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, wheelchair basketball, fencing, rugby, and wheelchair tennis.
Qualified athletes and disciplines
Here’s a glimpse of Türkiye's qualified athletes and their disciplines:
Shooting: Aysel Özgan, Ayşegül Pehlivanlar, Çağla Baş, Erhan Coşkuner, Hakan Çevik, Muharrem Korhan Yamaç.
Visually impaired football: B1 Men’s National Team (10 players).
Goalball: Women’s National Team (6 players).
Athletics: Muhammed Khalvandi, Hamide Doğangün, Abdullah Ilgaz, Rabia Cirit, Mikail Al, Oğuz Akbulut, Serkan Yıldırım, Serap Demirkapu, Büşra Nur Tırıklı.
Archery: Bahattin Hekimoğlu, Yağmur Şengül, Yavuz Papağan, Sadık Savaş, Öznur Cüre, Sevgi Yorulmaz, Merve Nur Eroğlu, Yiğit Caner Aydın, Nil Mısır.
Table tennis: Ebru Acer, Kübra Korkut, Abdullah Öztürk, Nesim Turan, Ali Öztürk, Neslihan Kavas, Merve Cansu Demir, Hatice Duman.
Taekwondo: Mahmut Bozteke, Alican Özcan, Fatih Çelik, Mehmet Sami Saraç, Meryem Betül Çavdar, Gamze Gürdal, Seçil Er, Nurcihan Ekinci.
Swimming: Sevilay Öztürk, Sümeyye Boyacı, Umut Ünlü, Turgut Aslan Yaraman, Elif İldem, Meryem Nur Tunuğ.
Badminton: Halime Yıldız, Emine Seçkin.
Wheelchair fencing: Hakan Akkaya.
Wheelchair tennis: Ahmet Kaplan, Uğur Altınel.
Weightlifting: Besra Duman, Nazmiye Muratlı, Abdullah Kayapınar, Uğur Yumuk, Sibel Çam.
Rowing: Yiğit Dorukhan Bozkurt, Nurşen Şen.
Triathlon: Uğurcan Özer.
Judo: Yasin Çimciler, Onur Taştan, İbrahim Bölükbaşı, Ecem Taşın Çavdar, Merve Uslu Hajabipour, Nazan Akın Güneş, Cahide Eke, Gökçe Yavuz, Recep Çiftçi, Döndü Yeşilyurt.