Mahmut Bozteke (born 21 June 1997) is a Turkish

Para Taekwondo Para Taekwondo is an adaptation of ''Taekwondo'' for disabled athletes. The sport's main governing body is World Taekwondo (WT). New disciplines such as ''kyorugi'' and ''poomsae'', both martial arts forms, have been developed for para-athletes ...

athlete.https://teamturkiye.gov.tr/sporcularimiz/paralimpik-sporcularimiz/sporcu/mahmut-bozteke He qualified for the para-taekwondo games at the rescheduled

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralym ...

held in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Japan, on 24 August 2021.

Early life

At age eleven, his arms were caught in the tail shaft of a tractor while he was working in a

pistachio The pistachio (, ''Pistacia vera''), a member of the cashew family, is a small tree originating from Central Asia and the Middle East. The tree produces seeds that are widely consumed as food. ''Pistacia vera'' is often confused with other sp ...

tree garden. Bozteke's arms were severed in the accident, and he was hospitalised for three and half months. He had a partial amputation of his arms and tissue taken from his legs allowed partial reconstruction of his arms over the course of fifteen operations. He was bedridden at home for a year recovering from injury and the operations. Having no hands, he learned to do his daily work with his feet. He was introduced to Taekwondo at a gymnasium of the Youth and Sports Provincial Directorate in his neighbourhood on the recommendation of his physiotherapist, who told him, "You use your feet well, I think you can practise taekwondo." During his secondary education at Kanuni Sultan Süleyman High School, he participated in regional competitions for para-swimming in the S6 disability class.

Sports career

The 23-year-old athlete became the Turkish champion in Para Taekwondo before he competed internationally. He won the bronze medal in the K44 disability class in the under weight class at the 2016 European Para Taekwondo Championships held in Warsaw, Poland. At the 2017 World Para Taekwondo Championships in London, England, he won the silver medal in the K44 event. Bozteke won the gold medal in the K44 event at the 2019 Para Taekwondo Championships in

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

, Italy. Bozteke qualified for the para-taekwondo games at the rescheduled

to be held in

, Japan, beginning on 24 August 2021. He waon one of the bronze medals in the -61 kg event.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bozteke, Mahmut 1997 births Living people Paralympic taekwondo practitioners of Turkey Turkish male taekwondo practitioners Taekwondo practitioners at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for Turkey Paralympic medalists in taekwondo Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics 21st-century Turkish people