Mahmut Bozteke

At age eleven, his arms were caught in the tail shaft of a tractor while he was working in a pistachio tree garden. Bozteke's arms were severed in the accident,[2] and he was hospitalised for three and half months. He had a partial amputation of his arms and tissue taken from his legs allowed partial reconstruction of his arms over the course of fifteen operations.[3] He was bedridden at home for a year recovering from injury and the operations. Having no hands, he learned to do his daily work with his feet. He was introduced to Taekwondo at a gymnasium of the Youth and Sports Provincial Directorate in his neighbourhood on the recommendation of his physiotherapist, who told him, "You use your feet well, I think you can practise taekwondo."[3][4] During his secondary education at Kanuni Sultan Süleyman High School, he participated in regional competitions for para-swimming in the S6 disability class.[5]

The 23-year-old athlete became the Turkish champion in Para Taekwondo before he competed internationally.[3]

He won the bronze medal in the K44 disability class in the under 61 kilograms (134 lb) weight class at the 2016 European Para Taekwondo Championships held in Warsaw, Poland.[2] At the 2017 World Para Taekwondo Championships in London, England, he won the silver medal in the K44 61 kilograms (134 lb) event.[6][7] Bozteke won the gold medal in the K44 61 kilograms (134 lb) event at the 2019 Para Taekwondo Championships in Bari, Italy.[8][9]

Bozteke qualified for the para-taekwondo games at the rescheduled 2020 Summer Paralympics to be held in Tokyo, Japan, beginning on 24 August 2021.[3][10] He waon one of the bronze medals in the -61 kg event.[11]