Mehmet Çekiç (born 1 January 1970) is a Turkish

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

alpine skier Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether ...

who competes in the LW4 disability class of men's slalom, standing and

giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding competitive discipline. It involves racing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in Slalom skiing, slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant sl ...

, standing events. He represented his country, Turkey, at the 2014 Sochi and 2018 PyeongChang Paralympics.

Private life

Mehmet Çekiç was born on 1 January 1970. He graduated from the

University of Upper Alsace University of Upper Alsace (, UHA) is a multidisciplinary teaching and research centre based in the two cities of Mulhouse and Colmar, France. Research and teaching at UHA concentrates mainly on science, technology, economics, management, arts and ...

Colmar Colmar (; ; or ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Alsace region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department ...

, France. He lives in France, where he owns and manages a butchers and grocery shop in

Barr, Bas-Rhin Barr (; in Alsatian language, Alsatian ''Borr'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Bas-Rhin Departments of France, department in the Alsace region of north-eastern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Barrois'' or ''Barrois ...

, France. He has one son. In 2009, he was involved in a motorcycle accident, which resulted in his disability after his leg was amputated mid-

shinbone The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the t ...

, below the knee.

Sports career

Before he became disabled, Çekiç performed weightlifting between 1993 and 1996, and competed at national level in France. He became also a champion. Alpine skiing was his favorite hobby, even before his accident, due to the proximity of his residence to the mountains. In 2010, he began Para-alpine skiing in France, and debuted internationally for Turkey in the United States in 2013. He is classified as LW4, which is a disability class for Para-skiers with disability in one lower extremity. Çekiç is a member of the ski club in

Le Hohwald Le Hohwald (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Bas-Rhin Departments of France, department in Alsace in north-eastern France. Geography Climate Le Hohwald is a hill village, with altitude above sea level in the commune ranging from 450 ...

Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin () is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its lower altitude among the two French Rhine departments: it is downstream of the Haut-Rhin (Upper Rhine) de ...

, France, where he acts also as a skiing instructor. He is coached by French Dany Iselin and Turkish Ersin Beyduz. Following training in Canada and the United States, after his participation at a competition in

Rinn Rinn is a municipality in the district of Innsbruck-Land in the Austrian state of Tyrol located 6 km southeast of Innsbruck. The village was mentioned in documents as “Runne” in 1250 for the first time. Population Climate Climate typ ...

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

, Austria he qualified to start at the

2014 Winter Paralympics The 2014 Winter Paralympics (), the 11th Paralympic Winter Games, and also more generally known as the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, were an international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Par ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

, Russia. After a two-week camp in Turkey, he took part at the Paralympics with a teammate. At the

2018 Winter Paralympics The 2018 Winter Paralympics (), the 12th Paralympic Winter Games, and also more generally known as the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, were an international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the Internation ...

PyeongChang Pyeongchang ( , ; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seo ...

, South Korea, he represented Turkey alone. Çekiç was the flag bearer at the parade of nations of

Sochi 2014 The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

, and

PyeongChang 2018 The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cekic, Mehmet 1970 births Living people Turkish male alpine skiers Paralympic alpine skiers for Turkey Alpine skiers at the 2014 Winter Paralympics Alpine skiers at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Sportsmen with disabilities Turkish amputees University of Upper Alsace alumni Place of birth missing (living people)