Turkey's Success at the Paralympic Games
Chapter from the book:
Biricik,
Y.
S.
(ed.)
2024.
Content Analysis in Sports Sciences.
Synopsis
Paralympic Games are the highest level organizations where disabled athletes compete in different sports branches internationally. The organization, which started for the rehabilitation of soldiers injured in wars, has changed over time and started to serve higher purposes. Over time, one of the largest organizations in the sporting sense has been created by reaching larger masses in order to make the disabled people, who make up 14% of the society, more visible. Since the Paralympic Games started in 1960, they have been organized in the same country where the Olympics are held.
The aim of this study is to examine the factors affecting this change due to the fact that Turkey's Paralympic team is the organization with the highest participation in the Paralympic Games in 2024 and the organization with the highest number of medals. This research will be an original compilation study by reviewing the literature on Turkey's success in the Paralympic Games process over the years and how the level of development has changed according to the organizations. In order to evaluate the development in the Games, official websites and academic researches in the relevant literature were utilized. From 1992 until now, it has been examined how Turkey has experienced a change in the Paralympic Games and whether the successful gains achieved in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, which is the organization, have been taken from the Disabled Athletes' Federations and whether a more significant difference has been made by employing disabled athletes by sports federations. As a result, the success of the Turkish Paralympic Team, which has shown a historical success, is not only limited to the medal ranking, but also the success of the athletes who ranked in the top 10 in the games in the next organization will be an even more significant success indicator in this organization.