Mesme Taşbağ (born 7 September 1981) is a Turkish

visually impaired Visual or vision impairment (VI or VIP) is the partial or total inability of visual perception. In the absence of treatment such as corrective eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment, visual impairment may cause the individual difficul ...

judoka is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, 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 Encyc ...

( 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 (; or ; ; or ) is a city in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Iğdır Province and Iğdır District.

, Turkey on 9 July 1981. She was educated in

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

at Ondokuz Mayıs University in

Samsun Samsun is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. The urban area recorded a population of 738,692 in 2022. The city is the capital of Samsun Province which has a population of ...

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 821 315 (Odunpazari + Tebebasi), with a metropolitan population of 921 630. The city is l ...

Sporting career

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

keratoconus Keratoconus is an eye disorder in which the cornea, the transparent front part of the eye, gradually thins and bulges outward into a cone shape. This causes distorted vision, including blurry vision, double vision, increased nearsightedness, ...

, a degenerative disorder of the

eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...

leading to 40% loss of her

visual acuity Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of visual perception, vision, but technically rates an animal's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity depends on optical and neural factors. Optical factors of the eye ...

. At the 2015 IBSA World Championships and Games in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, 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 in

Odivelas Odivelas () is a municipality in the Lisbon metropolitan area, Portugal. The municipality is located 8 km northwest of the center of Lisbon. Predominantly a residential suburb, the population in 2021 was 148 034, in an area of 26.54 km2 (one of t ...

, Portugal. She obtained so a quota spot for the

Judo at the 2016 Summer Paralympics The Para Judo competition of the 2016 Summer Paralympics was held in Hall 3 at the Carioca Arena inside the Olympic Training Center (Rio de Janeiro), Olympic Training Center in Barra da Tijuca, Barra cluster between 8 and 10 September. Ther ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, 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 The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

, Brazil.

References

External links

* * * 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