Amputee archer Tarık Bıyıklıoğlu, a third-year student in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, brought a gold medal back to Bilkent from the national university archery championship competition held in Eskişehir on April 30.
Organized by the Turkish Universities Sports Federation, the competition included 300 participants overall. Tarık, the only disabled archer at the event, competed in the men’s compound category. (“Compound” refers to the type of bow used.) He was pitted against 33 archers from 20 universities, including 4 national team members.
At the end of the ranking rounds, Tarık stood in fifth place, easily qualifying for the elimination rounds. Windy weather made the eliminations more challenging, but Tarık was able to best all of his opponents, including two of the national team members, to take first place in his category.
Following the event, Tarık described his feelings about his victory, saying, “As the only disabled archer in the competition, ending up with the gold medal at the national university championships filled me with pride. I hope my example can offer motivation and inspire people who have question marks in their mind about doing sports to go out and try for similar success.”