Mesme Taşbağ (born September 7, 1981) is a Turkish

visually impaired Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

judoka is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

( disability class B3) competing in the heavyweight (+70 kg) division. She is a physician by profession.

Early life

Mesme Taşbağ was born in

Iğdır Iğdır ( Turkish ; ku, Îdir or ; hy, Իգդիր, Igdir, also ) is the capital of Iğdır Province in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. History Iğdır went by the Armenian name of Tsolakert during the Middle Ages. s.v. "Igdir," Armenia ...

, Turkey on July 9, 1981. She was educated in

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

Ondokuz Mayıs University Ondokuz Mayıs University (OMU) is a major state university founded in 1975 in Samsun, Turkey. The university bears the name “19 May”, which marks the date when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey, came to Samsun in or ...

Samsun Samsun, historically known as Sampsounta ( gr, Σαμψούντα) and Amisos (Ancient Greek: Αμισός), is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and is a major Black Sea port. In 2021, Samsun reco ...

graduating in 2008. She served five years long in her hometown in Iğdır. Currently, she works as a physician in the emergency service of the Yunus Emre Hospital in

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from "old" and "city") is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 898,369 with a metropolitan population of 797,708. The city is located on the banks of the ...

Sporting career

Taşbağ began in Iğdır with performing judo as she wanted to stay in shape. During this time, she developed

keratoconus Keratoconus (KC) is a disorder of the eye that results in progressive thinning of the cornea. This may result in blurry vision, double vision, nearsightedness, irregular astigmatism, and light sensitivity leading to poor quality-of-life. Usu ...

, a degenerative disorder of the

eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

leading to 40% loss of her

visual acuity Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an examinee's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity is dependent on optical and neural factors, i.e. (1) the sharpness of the retinal ...

. At the 2015

IBSA World Championships and Games The IBSA World Games (formerly IBSA World Championships and Games) or World Blind Games are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA). The events enable blind and pa ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, South Korea, she took a bronze medal in the +70 kg event. She won the gold medal in the heavyweight (+70 kg) event at the

2015 IBSA European Judo Championships The 2015 IBSA Judo European Championships were held in Odivelas, Portugal, from 25–30 November 2015. It was held at the Multiusos Sports Hall in the city. The championship was the 13th to be held and was the last event whereby European athletes ...

Odivelas Odivelas ( or ) is a city and a municipality in Lisbon metropolitan area, Portugal, in the Lisbon District and the historical and cultural Estremadura Province. The municipality is located 10 km northwest of Lisbon. The present Mayor is Hugo ...

, Portugal. She obtained so a quota spot for the

Judo at the 2016 Summer Paralympics The Judo competition of the 2016 Summer Paralympics was held in Hall 3 at the Carioca Arena inside the Olympic Training Center in Barra cluster between 8 and 10 September. There were 13 events, corresponding to seven weight classes for men a ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil. Taşbağ was the flag bearer at the parade of nations of Rio de Janeiro 2016. She won a bronze medal at the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

, Brazil.

References

Living people 1981 births Sportspeople from Iğdır Ondokuz Mayıs University alumni Turkish women physicians Turkish physicians Turkish female judoka Paralympic judoka for Turkey Visually impaired category Paralympic competitors Judoka at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for Turkey Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in judo 21st-century Turkish physicians 21st-century women physicians 20th-century Turkish sportswomen 21st-century Turkish sportswomen Turkish blind people Physicians with disabilities {{Turkey-judo-bio-stub