Oğuz Akbulut: “I want to win a gold medal at the Olympics”

Oğuz Akbulut, a 32-year-old visually impaired national athlete who has qualified for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, aims for the gold medal in the 400 meters T12 category.

With his success in international competitions, Oğuz Akbulut, who has earned the right to compete in the 400 meters T10 category for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, is training at the Sivas Athletics Track. Under the supervision of the national team coach for visually impaired athletes, Ertürk Yamen, Oğuz Akbulut is determined to win the gold medal. In statements to İhlas News Agency (IHA), national athlete Oğuz Akbulut expressed that his goal is to win the gold medal. Akbulut stated, “We have been working hard for 12 years before entering this process. This will be our second Olympics. There was a world championship before this. Last year, I placed third in the world championship in Paris. For us, these Paralympic Games are one of the most important competitions of the year. We have worked intensively from the preparation season until now. We have continued our training in a planned and programmatic way. Right now, we have raised our performance to the highest level. Hopefully, we aim for a medal at the Paralympic Games in France. We hope that the color of this medal will also be gold. I have a world championship bronze and a European championship title. The only medal missing in our collection is from the Paralympic Games. Hopefully, we will complete our collection by winning a medal here, and we hope that this medal will also be gold.”

Ertürk Yamen: “We will chase the medal”

Beginning his remarks by stating they have been working with Oğuz Akbulut for many years, coach Ertürk Yamen said, “We have been working with Oğuz Akbulut since 2013. This has been a long process. During this time, we have achieved two European championships, three bronze medals in world championships, and this will be our second Paralympic Games. The collection is missing a Paralympic Games medal. We have worked to complete that. Right now, we are working to maximize his performance. He will participate in the qualifying race for the 400 meters at the Paralympic Games in Paris on September 3. After the qualifying race, there will be a semi-final on the 4th and a final on the 5th. Four athletes will run in the final. Among these four, we will run in the final and chase the medal.”