Sevilay Öztürk (born 28 November 2003) is a Turkish Paralympic swimmer. She competes in the disability category of S5 in freestyle,

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

and

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

, specializing in sprint events. She competed in 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 ...

Personal history

Sevilay Öztürk was born to Bülent Öztürk and Hülya as their first child on 28 November 2003. She has no arms as a birth defect (bilateral

congenital A birth defect is an abnormal condition that is present at childbirth, birth, regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disability, disabilities that may be physical disability, physical, intellectual disability, intellectual, or dev ...

upper extremity

agenesis In medicine, agenesis () refers to the failure of an organ to develop during embryonic growth and development due to the absence of primordial tissue. Many forms of agenesis are referred to by individual names, depending on the organ affected: ...

). Very much supported by her father, she was schooled in the neighborhood. She learned to use her foot for writing.

Swimming career

Öztürk began swimming in 2010 after she met Beytullah Eroğlu at a hospital in her hometown, the successful national Paralympic swimmer, who has also bilateral limb deficiency. She began with regular swimming exercise in 2013. She won three gold and two silver medals in the national Para swimming championships. She internationally debuted at the 30th International German Championships in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in June 2016. She was qualified for the

, and represented her country in

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. She was the youngest competitor at all. She failed to capture any medal. She took part at the 2017 European Para Youth Games held in

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

, Italy, and won the gold medal in the 50 m Backstroke S5 event. Öztürk's disability swimming classification is S5 due to her limb deficiency as a

birth defect A birth defect 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 range from mild to severe. Birth de ...

. The tall Para swimmer is coached by Ali Uzun in Kahramanmaraş Munispality SC. At the

2019 World Para Swimming Championships The 2019 World Para Swimming Championships was the tenth edition of the World Para Swimming Championships run by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The championships were held from February to June in seven countries across five contine ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, U.K., she won the bronze medal in the 50 m butterfly S5 event with a time of 47.35. She was named as one of two flag bearers along with Mahmut Bozteke by the Turkish National Paralympic Committee to lead the Turkish contingent for the opening ceremony of the

2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...

Achievements

References

External links

* * Living people 2003 births Sportspeople from Kahramanmaraş Sportswomen with disabilities Paralympic swimmers for Turkey S5-classified para swimmers Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Turkish female butterfly swimmers Turkish female backstroke swimmers Turkish female freestyle swimmers Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in swimming Paralympic bronze medalists for Turkey 21st-century Turkish sportswomen Islamic Solidarity Games medalists in swimming Islamic Solidarity Games gold medalists for Turkey Islamic Solidarity Games silver medalists for Turkey Medalists at the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games {{Turkey-swimming-bio-stub