Sibel Çam (born 4 July 1990) is a Turkish Paralympic powerlifter who competes in the -73 kg division.

Sport career

Çam started

powerlifting Powerlifting is a competitive strength athletics, strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: Squat (exercise), squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athle ...

at the age of 22 after she became aware of the sport through a retired wrestling coach. She prepared her home living room as a training area, and exercized for competitions with the help of his father. She competes in the -73 kg division. She is a member of Konya Meram Belediyesi Sport Club, where she is coached by Arif Kıran. Çam competed at the 2016 World Para Powerlifting Games 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. At the 2017 Word Para Powerlifting Junior Championships in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, Mexico, she ranked fourth. Çam captured the gold medal at the 2018 World Para Powerlifting European Open Championships in Berck-su-Mér, France. She won the silver medal at the 2019 World Para Powerlifting Championships in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan after lifting 124 kg. Çam participated at the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, 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 Inte ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan. She failed to achieve any result. Çam captured the gold medal at the 2022 European Open Championships in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, Georgia. At the 2024 Para Powerlifting World Cup, she took the silver medal in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, United Arab Emirates, and the bronze medal in

Sharm El Sheikh Sharm El Sheikh (, , literally "bay of the Sheikh"), alternatively rendered Sharm el-Sheikh, Sharm el Sheikh, or Sharm El-Sheikh, is an Egyptian city on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, on the coastal strip alo ...

, Egypt. These results enabled her to receive a quota for participation at the

Summer Paralympics The Summer Paralympics, also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebr ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France.

Personal life

Sibel Çam was born in

Cihanbeyli Cihanbeyli is a municipality and district of Konya Province, Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. I ...

district of

Konya Province Konya Province () is a province and metropolitan municipality in southwest Central Anatolia, Turkey. Its area is 40,838 km2, making it the largest province by area, and its population is 2,296,347 (2022). The provincial capital is the city ...

, central Turkey on 4 July 1990. She lived with her parents in a village before the family moved to Konya. At the age of 13, she became ill. She was diagnosed with

transverse myelitis Transverse myelitis (TM) is a rare neurological condition wherein the spinal cord is Inflammation, inflamed. The adjective ''wikt:transverse#Adjective, transverse'' implies that the spinal inflammation (myelitis) extends horizontally throughout ...

, a

spinal cord The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue that extends from the medulla oblongata in the lower brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone) of vertebrate animals. The center of the spinal c ...

paralysis due to viral infection. Applied physical therapy did not help, so she became walking disabled, and has to use wheelchair. The family lived in an apartment without an elevator on the second floor. Her mother had to carry her on back the stairs down when she was to go out.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cam, Sibel 1990 births Living people People from Cihanbeyli Sportspeople from Konya Turkish female powerlifters Turkish disabled sportspeople 21st-century Turkish sportswomen Powerlifters at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Powerlifters at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for Turkey Paralympic medalists in powerlifting Paralympic powerlifters for Turkey