Mehmet Vasıf Yakut (born 15 March 1989) 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. ...

practitioner. He obtained a quota for participation at the

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 ...

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.

Private life

Mehmet Vasıf Yakut was born in Gevaş district of

Van, Turkey Van ( hy, Վան; ku, Wan) is a mostly Kurdish-populated and historically Armenian-populated city in eastern Turkey's Van Province. The city lies on the eastern shore of Lake Van. Van has a long history as a major urban area. It has been a larg ...

on 15 March 1989. He is disabled resulting from a

birth defect A birth defect, also known as a congenital disorder, is an abnormal condition that is present at birth regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disabilities that may be physical, intellectual, or developmental. The disabilities can ...

Sports career

Yakut began performin para taekwondo after he met a taekwondo practitioner in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

in 2016. He is tall at. He is a member of

İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi S.K., shortly Istanbul BB SK or IBBSK, is a multi-sports club of the metropolitan municipality of Istanbul in Turkey. Branches The club has following sport branches: *Volleyball (Arome Men's League), *Basket ...

, where he is coached by Ali Özen. He competes in the sport class K43 +73 kg of

. Yakut was admitted to the Turkey national team after he became runners-up and then champion in the national championships. He won a gold medal at the 2018 European Para Taekwondo Chanpionship in

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

, Bulgaria, and another gold medal at the 2019 World Para Taekwondo Championship in

Antalya Antalya () is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish cit ...

, Turkey. He took the silver medal at the 2019 European Para Taekwondo Championship 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. He competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics - +75 kg, and was eliminated in the first round of the repechage match.

References

1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Van, Turkey Paralympic taekwondo practitioners of Turkey Turkish male taekwondo practitioners Taekwondo practitioners at the 2020 Summer Paralympics 21st-century Turkish people {{Turkey-taekwondo-bio-stub