Five taekwondo athletes from Türkiye will compete at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, which will be held from July 26 to Aug. 11.
Having completed the qualification process in taekwondo, Merve Dinçel Kavurat (49 kg.), Hatice Kübra Ilgün (57 kg.), and Nafia Kuş Aydın (+67 kg.) in the women's category, and Hakan Reçber (68 kg.) and Emre Kutalmış Ateşli (+80 kg.) in the men's category have earned the right to participate in the 33rd Summer Olympic Games.
Hatice Kübra Ilgün, Nafia Kuş Aydın, and Hakan Reçber, who competed in Tokyo 2020, will participate in the Olympics for the second time.
Merve Dinçel Kavurat and Emre Kutalmış Ateşli will experience this excitement for the first time.
The record for the Turkish taekwondo athlete who has represented Türkiye in the most Olympics is shared by three athletes, Servet Tazegül, Nur Tatar and Bahri Tanrıkulu, who have competed three times in the Games.
Tazegül won gold in London 2012 and bronze in Beijing 2008, Tatar won silver in London 2012 and bronze in Rio 2016, while Tanrıkulu won silver in Athens 2004.
Since being included in the Olympic program in 2000, the only Turkish athlete to win a gold medal in taekwondo is Servet Tazegül, who won the championship in the men's 68 kg. category in London 2012.
Kavurat, Ilgün, and Aydın, who will compete in Paris 2024, will also try to become the first Turkish female taekwondo athletes to win an Olympic championship.
Merve Kavurat, the 2023 world champion and 2022 European champion in the women's 49 kg. category, Hatice Kübra Ilgün, who won bronze at Tokyo 2020 and is the 2022 European champion in the women's 57 kg. category, and Nafia Kuş Aydın, the 2023 world champion and 2018 European champion in the women's +73 kg. category, aim to complete their collection in France.
The medal hopes for Turkish taekwondo at the 2024 Olympics will be Hakan Reçber and Emre Kutalmış Ateşli.
Reçber, the 63 kg. 2023 world champion and 2021 and 2022 European champion, will compete in the 68 kg. category in Paris, aiming to change the color of the bronze medal he won in Tokyo 2020.
Ateşli, the +87 kg. 2022 European champion and 2023 world third-place finisher, will also try to return with a medal from his first Olympics.
On the other hand, eight athletes will compete in the Paralympic Games.
Nurcihan Ekinci (47 kg.), Meryem Betül Çavdar (52 kg.), Gamze Gürdal (57 kg.), Seçil Er (65 kg.) in the women's category, and Ali Can Özcan (58 kg.), Mahmut Bozteke (63 kg.), Fatih Çelik (70 kg.), and Mehmet Sami Saraç (+80 kg.) in the men's category have qualified to participate in the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games in the K44 category.
Çvadar, Gürdal, Bozteke, and Çelik will compete for the second time, while the others will compete in the Paralympic Games for the first time.
Türkiye won its first medals in para taekwondo, which was included in the program for the first time at Tokyo 2020. Meryem Betül Çavdar won silver and Mahmut Bozteke won bronze.