Turkish wheelchair athletic team eye Olympic quota

By Sinan Ozmus

ANTALYA, Turkey (AA) - With an aim to win the Olympic quota place, the Turkish women's national wheelchair athletic team resumed working five days a week.

The team, who clinched a total of eight medals at the Dubai World Para Athletics Grand Prix in February, keep on training with the current set of coronavirus rules in the Turkish resort city of Antalya.

In an exclusive interview with Anadolu Agency, the national team coach Omer Cantay said that Hamiden Dogangun is the only Turkish athlete to reach the quota at 400 meters for the paralympic games so far.

Cantay noted that Zeynep Acet and Zubeyde Supurgeci made a big effort to deliver some good results in Dubai, but they, unfortunately, did not manage to win a quota place.

"Hoping the rest of our athletes will book a berth in another Grand Prix that will be held in Tunisia between March 15-20," he added.

The 25-year-old Dogangun, who clinched three gold medals in Dubai, said that she desires to earn a spot on the medal stand in Tokyo Paralympics.

Supurgeci, 27, said that she wants the Turkish national anthem to be played after clinching a gold medal.

"I felt bad about not getting a quota place despite achieving considerable degrees in Dubai," Supurgeci added.

Acet, 25, said that she targets to have a medal around her neck when she returns home.

Initially scheduled for last year, the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic games were among hosts of sporting events postponed worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event is now scheduled to occur in Japan's capital from July 23 until Aug. 8, followed by the Paralympics from Aug. 24 to Sept. 5.