| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 5 May 1978 Giresun, Turkey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Bursa, Turkey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years active | 2004 – Present | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Paralympic pistol shooting | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | P2 Women's 10m air pistol SH1, P4 Mixed 50m air pistol SH1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Yıldırım Belediyespor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Aysel Özgan (born 5 May 1978) is a Turkish female paralympic shooter competing in the pistol events. She took part at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Paralympic Games.
Aysel Özgan was born in Giresun, Turkey on 5 May 1978. When she was 12 years old, she was forced to interrupt her education because of health problems. She twice underwent surgery on her neck following a separation of the vertebrae due to an aneurysmal bone cyst. [1] [2] She was paralyzed below her chest due to complications that arose from the second surgery and is unable to walk, with restricted movement in her right arm. [3] [4] She uses a wheelchair. [1]
After passing a special exam for physically disabled persons, she was appointed a government official. [2]
In 2015, Özgan moved to Bursa, Turkey. She is an employee of the provincial Youth Services and Sports Administration. [4]
Özgan's shooting sport career began in 2004 when the Turkish Shooting Championships were hosted in her hometown of Giresun, [3] [1] [5] Upon urging of her friends, she applied for a license to shoot, and took part in the competition as the only female athlete. She won the championship on her first attempt even though she had not used a firearm before. [3] [4] [1]
She was called up to the qualifiers, and was selected for the national Paralympic shooting team one year after the first tournament in which she participated. [3]
Özgan competes in the P2 women's 10m air pistol SH1 and P4 Mixed 50m air pistol SH1 events. [6] [7] [8] Paralympic shooters, who do not need a shooting stand to support the firearm, are categorized in the SH1 class. [9] Özgan is a member of Yıldırım Belediyespor in Bursa. [3]
She represented her country at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics and 2012 London Paralympics. [3] At the 2015 IPC Shooting World Cup held in Fort Benning, USA, she qualified to participate at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. [4] [10]
Özgan took the gold medal in the P2 SH1 event at the 2012 IPC Shooting World Cup held in Szczecin, Poland. [5]
In 2015, Özgan won the silver medal in the P2 10m air pistol SH1 event at the IPC Shooting World Cup held in Fort Benning, United States. [11] This success brought her a quota spot for the 2016 Summer Paralympics. [12] She placed seventh in the P2 10m air pistol SH1 qualification event at the 2015 IPC Shooting World Cup in Osijek, Croatia. [8]
She won the 2016 Turkish Shooting Championship in the 10m air pistol event. [13] At the 2016 IPC Shooting World Cup in Bangkok, Thailand, she took the silver medal with her teammates in the P4 SH1 event. [14]
She became gold medalist in the P4 50m air pistol event of SH1 category at the 2017 IPC World Cup held in Hannover, Germany. [15]
