Sevgican Yalçın, 66, stood out among her young counterparts at the 14th European Taekwondo Poomsae Championship in Antalya earlier this month.
The grandmother of five, who won silver in a world championship earlier, says her next target is a world title in the seniors' category in poomsae. Yalçın, who won bronze in the Antalya competition, was in her thirties when she took up the sport to ease pain stemming from rheumatism. It helped her relieve the pain but she did not quit the sport and went on to win the silver medal in a world championship in 2007.
"I am happy to do it. I won many medals in both national and international contests and wanted to show people that age does not matter in sports. I'll continue to do it for as long as I can," Yalçın says. She is now training for the world championship which will be held in Denmark next year. "I work hard to win gold so that I can represent my country and Ordu [her hometown] in the best way I can," she says.
