While he was interested in basketball and weightlifting, Aydın’s Abdullah Kılıç, who began para dance last year, has recently come third in the European Championship with his partner Hazal Zengin.
Kılıç, who is the fifth child of a family of 7 children, dropped out of high school, but has overcome his disabilities through sports.
He first participated in the selections of the Efeler Wheelchair Basketball Team in the Basketball 2nd League and and then started weightlifting thanks to the weightlifting trainer Yunus Emre Demirtaş, whom he met at the gym.
Working in weightlifting in his spare time, Kilic won the 95kg category at the Turkey Disabled Weightlifting Championship four years ago in Konya.
Aydın Disabled Sports Club President Mehmet Güler encouraged the disabled athlete to participate in a visual show, para dance, which combines sports and dance.
After working for three months, Kılıç participated in the Para Dance Turkey Championship held in Kütahya with Hazal Zengin, a dancer within the Para Dance Federation. Kılıç, who came second in the Freestyle Combi Class 2 category, was invited to the National Team 3 weeks ago.
Kılıç crowned his Turkish Championship success at the Paradans European Championship in Poland. He made Turkey and Aydın proud with the 3rd place medal in the Doubles Freestyle Class2 category in the championship, which he participated for the first time and prepared in a very short time.
Expressing that he proved what can be achieved without feet, Kılıç said, “Sports is my life. Our Club President Mehmet Güler advised me to combine dance with sports. She started working with my dance trainer Özlem Yıldız.
“I improved myself with regular training. I came second in Turkey in the first official tournament I participated in. I joined the national team. Despite my short time, I worked tirelessly. With the support of perseverance, I also won the third place in the European Championship.”
He added: “Thanks to sports and dance, I went places that no one could have imagined. My goal is to represent our country in the Olympics. Being disabled is not something we want, but it is in our hands to overcome them. The important thing is to overcome these obstacles and climb to higher levels. Believing is half the battle.”