Turkey wins 28 medals in Down Syndrome championships

By Ercan Cakar

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkish athletes with down syndrome won 28 medals in the European Championships in Finland.

Turkish sports federation for the special athletes said on Sunday that Turkey won seven gold, 12 silver and nine bronze medals in athletics and table tennis in the European Championships held in the Finnish city of Tampere.

Birol Aydin, head of the federation, said Sunday that the athletes want to give their medals and cups to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he is closely following and supporting these special athletes.

Separately Turkish Youth and Sports Minister Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoglu congratulated the athletes for their success in Finland.

Kasapoglu thanked Turkish athletes for their performance in the championships and he added that Turkey has been proud of Ali Topaloglu for setting a new world record in the shot put.

The new record holder, Topaloglu earned a gold medal on Sunday in shot put with a degree of 10.96 meters.