Serkan Yıldırım (born Persian: ;

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: Sajjad Hashemi Ahangari on 22 August 1991) is an

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

-born Turkish athlete. He has competed at both the Olympic and

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

competing in the 100 m and 400 m sprint events, as well as being a World Champion and World Record holder in the T12 classification.

Sport career

In Iran

He was a semi-finalist in the event at the 2007 World Youth Championships in Athletics and came fifth at the 2008 Asian Junior Athletics Championships the following year. He returned for the 2010 Asian Junior Athletics Championships and won the 400 m, as well as taking a relay bronze medal and setting a

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

national record of 21.09 seconds for fourth place. At the West Asian Championships in Aleppo, Hashemi ran a national junior record of 46.57 seconds to win the 400 m, then (with a team including Reza Bouazar, Sajjad Moradi and Edward Mangasar) he broke the Iranian record for 4×400 metres relay with a time of 3:07.87 minutes. He was chosen for the 400 m and relay team at the 2010 Asian Games, but did not get past the first round in either event. He established himself in the senior ranks in 2011 by taking the 200 m and 400 m Iranian titles. He came fourth in the 400 m at the 2011 Asian Athletics Championships, just behind Yuzo Kanemaru, and anchored the Iranian 4×400 m relay team to the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

. The 2011 Military World Games in July saw Hashemi break the national record in the 400 m with a run of 45.81 seconds, as he defeated Kenya's Mark Mutai to take the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

. Hashemi ran the 400 m for Iran at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In 2016, Hashemi was part of the Iranian team that won the silver medal in the men's 4 x 400 m at the Asian Indoor Athletics Champions. In

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, the team, also including Hashemi, won bronze. He continued to compete for Iran until September 2022.

In Turkey

Yıldırım had to give up his able-bodied athletics career as he was not able to see the track lines due to an increasing reduction of visual acuity. He then began to compete as a para-athlete for Turkey after he was classified into the B2 classification. He captured gold medals in the 100 m T12 and 400 m T12 events at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in

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, Japan. He set a new championship record in the 100 m T12 event with 10.53. With these results, he secured a quota for participation at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in

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, France.

Classification dispute

After Yıldırım won the gold medal by breaking the championship record in the 100 m and the world record in the 400 m at the World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan in May 2024, the World Para Athletics Federation (WPA), which is affiliated with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), initiated in June a process for his disability classification, after concerns were raised about his level of visual impairment. His approved classification status was changed to 'Under Review', it was announced that he would not be able to compete at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. The Turkish National Paralympic Committee (TMPK) made objections to the IPC and WPA, but the efforts were unsuccessful. The TMPK filed for an injunction in a

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

regional court against the WPA, which is subject to German law. On 29 August 2024 at 19:24 local time, one day after the opening ceremony of the Games, the judge approved an injunction allowing Yıldırım to compete. The WPA who had been unaware of the injunction, complied pending their own appeal against the decision. Notifying the Turkish delegation at 02:00 hours local time on 30 August, eight hours before the start of Yıldırım's 100 m competition.

Competition and post-disqualification

Yıldırım eventually competed in the 100 m T12 event on 30 August 2024. He initially claimed Gold, but on 3 September 2024, he was disqualified from the 100m T12, his gold medal was revoked and his name was removed from the entry list of the 400 m T12, after the WPA's appeal against the injunction was upheld. The TMPK announced that it will resolutely fight for Yıldırım's reinstatement.

Personal life

Sajjad Hashemi Ahangari was born in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

on 22 August 1991. He is fluent in Azerbaijani, Turkish, and Persian languages.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yildirim, Serkan 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Tabriz 21st-century Iranian sportsmen Iranian male sprinters Olympic athletes for Iran Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for Iran West Asian Athletics Championships winners Military World Games gold medalists for Iran Military World Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Iranian emigrants to Turkey Naturalized citizens of Turkey Turkish people of Iranian descent Turkish blind people Visually impaired sprinters 21st-century Turkish sportsmen Male competitors in athletics with disabilities Turkish male sprinters Medalists at the World Para Athletics Championships World Para Athletics Championships winners Paralympic athletes for Turkey Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Turkey Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Asian Athletics Championships medalists