Handan BiroÄŸlu (born 1 March 1981) is a Turkish female
para-archer competing in the women's
compound bow
In modern archery, a compound bow is a bow that uses a levering system, usually of cables and pulleys, to bend the limbs. The compound bow was first developed in 1966 by Holless Wilbur Allen in North Kansas City, Missouri, and a US patent w ...
event. She represents her country at the 2016 Paralympics.
Early life
Handan BiroÄŸlu was born in
Erzincan
Erzincan (; ), historically Yerznka (), is the capital of Erzincan Province in eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The city is majority Turkish Sunni w ...
, Turkey on 1 March 1981.
She resides in
Ankara
Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
.
In 2001, she was paralyzed due to a
spinal cord injury
A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that causes temporary or permanent changes in its function. It is a destructive neurological and pathological state that causes major motor, sensory and autonomic dysfunctions.
Symptoms of ...
she sustained in a bus accident, and has since required the use of a wheelchair.
BiroÄŸlu became pregnant about a year after her accident. During her pregnancy, physicians advised her to abort due to her
paraplegia
Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek ()
"half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neura ...
and to her fetus' brain defect. However, she decided to give birth, risking her own life.
Two years after her accident, she became the mother of a daughter.
Six years after her daughter's birth, she and her husband separated. BiroÄŸlu raised her daughter Nurdan alone in her father's home.
BiroÄŸlu says "The existence of my daughter gave me
zest for my life", and adds that she "chose archery to be a powerful
role model
A role model is a person whose behaviour, example, or success serves as a model to be emulated by others, especially by younger people. The term ''role model'' is credited to sociologist Robert K. Merton, who hypothesized that individuals compa ...
for my daughter."
Sporting career
In late 2013, BiroÄŸlu began to practise archery in the compound bow event by training under the instruction of coach
Macide Erdener at the archery field in Lozan Park of
Çankaya, Ankara.
She competed for the archery-specialized sports club Ankara Okçuluk İhtisas SK,
before she transferred to Ankara Bozoklar SK.
She has been coached by Okyay Tunç Küçükkayalar since 2014.
BiroÄŸlu is right-handed and shoots long arrows, with a
bow draw weight of .
In 2015, she was named ''Disabled Sportsperson of the Year'' in Turkey.
In March 2014, a year after taking up archery, BiroÄŸlu qualified to join the training camp of the Turkish national team after ranking fourth at the Turkish Indoor Archery Para Championships.
She competed internationally for the first time in the 2014 European Para Archery Championships held in
Nottwil
Nottwil is a municipality in the district of Sursee in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland.
History
Nottwil is first mentioned around 1217-22 as ''Nottewile''. In 1275 it was mentioned as ''Otewile''.
Nottwil is also the location where the ...
, Switzerland.
She placed eighth in the Compound Bow Open Women event, and won the bronze medal in the Compound Women Open Team event with her teammates
Burcu DaÄŸ and
Gülbin Su after defeating Italy in the finals.
At the 2015 World Archery Para Championships held in
Donaueschingen
Donaueschingen (; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Eschinge'') is a German town in the Black Forest in the southwest of the States of Germany, federal state of Baden-Württemberg in the Schwarzwald-Baar ''Districts of Germany, Kreis''. It ...
, Germany, BiroÄŸlu placed fifth in the Compound Women Open event after defeating Ireland's
Kerrie-Louise Leonard, securing a spot in the
2016 Rio Paralympics
The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 Sept ...
.
She took the silver medal in the Compound Women Open event at the 2016 European Para Archery Championships in
Saint-Jean-de-Monts
Saint-Jean-de-Monts () is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France.
Geography
The town is situated in the west of the ''département'', between Notre-Dame-de-Monts and Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez. It is ...
, France after being beaten by Russia's
Tatiana Andrievskaia in the final.
BiroÄŸlu was the runner-up at the 2016 Turkish Archery Para Championships held in
Kemer, Antalya.
Honors
;Individual
*''Disabled Sportsperson of the Year'' in Turkey 2015.
See also
*
Turkish women in sports
Turkish women have an active participation in many sports branches and have won several important trophies, especially in Athletics (sport), athletics, Olympic weightlifting, weightlifting, combat sports, volleyball and basketball.
Participati ...
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biroglu, Handan
1981 births
Living people
Turkish female archers
Paralympic archers for Turkey
Paralympic wheelchair archers
Archers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
People with paraplegia
Sportspeople from Erzincan
21st-century Turkish sportswomen