Hackney sports star Dervis Konuralp has revealed he may swap his swimming cap for a cycle helmet ahead of the Paralympic Games in London in 2012.
Konuralp, who has won 35 major medals in the pool, said he had done a trial on the track and was waiting to hear if he would be invited by British Cycling to start a training programme.
He said: “A good friend of mine, Jody Cundy, had great success in Beijing in the Paralympic cycling team, and he encouraged me to have a go at cycling, so I did.
“I was asked to go along to Manchester velodrome to do a trial on the track, and that seemed to go well.
“I would love to give it a go. I’ve achieved a hell of a lot in swimming, more so than a lot of other athletes, so to go into a different sport would be a new challenge and allow me to see what I can achieve.”
Konuralp has suffered from an eye condition since the age of nine, which means he has limited central vision.
He said if he were to compete at the London Velodrome in 2012, he would not be making up the numbers.
“I’ve always said that I will go there if I have a realistic medal chance, and obviously with the hope of winning gold. It’s part of my character. I’m a very competitive person and I train to win. If it’s not a realistic chance, then I wouldn’t go into that sport,” he added.
“The track cycling is on a tandem, so you have an able-bodied, fully-sighted person on the front doing the steering, and a visually impaired person on the back putting in the power.
“Otherwise we’d all be going off in different directions and the person to win would be the only one lucky enough to get across the line, with some form of GPS kit!”
Cycling has been given a huge boost in popularity following the success of Chris Hoy in Beijing last year.
With the imminent arrival of the world’s best athletes in Hackney for the 2012 Games, Konuralp, who lives near London Fields, also spoke of his belief that the Games are already inspiring the borough’s young people. He is currently working with youngsters at schools and sports clubs and said that he hoped to give people the belief that they can be a part of the Games.
He said: “A touch of confidence will hopefully get them into a sporting or educational environment, and show them that dreams can come true, regardless of what they are. We all start from the same point.”
Listen to Dervis talk about the importance of instilling confidence in youngsters and how sport can acheive this.
Dervis Konuralp: inspiring confidence in youngsters
Listen to Dervis talk about the positive impact that the Olympics is already having in Hackney.
Dervis Konuralp: the impact of the Olympics on Hackney
Image taken from Dervis Konuralp.
