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July 29, 2016

Top 5 Iranian Teams/Athletes to Watch for During the Summer Olympics

For a moment, absolve your mind of Iran: the politically charged and hotly contested nation that is so often the target of criticism in the news, and engulf yourself in Iran: the nation whose athletes led the Middle East in the most Olympic medals in the 2012 summer games and are hungry to prove themselves again.
Excluding 1980 and 1984, Iran has participated in every summer Olympic Games since 1948 and holds claim to 60 Olympic medals. Iran’s Olympic team is currently ranked 39th in the world. The team for this year’s games is made up of 64 athletes that will compete in 14 different sporting events. While all of these respective athletes have accomplished incredible feats to participate in this year’s Olympics, here are some key competitors who are sure to put Iran in the spotlight.
Men’s Volleyball Team:
As one of Iran’s most popular sports, the men’s volleyball team is sure to make a splash at the games. Iran’s volleyball team won the last Asian games in 2014 and is being called the dark horse of the competit16_Iran Volleyball Goes to 2016 Rio Olympicsion. However, they will have to work particularly hard in order to take home a medal in the event as they have been placed in group B alongside London 2012 gold medalist Russia, World Championship 2014 winner Poland, Argentina, Cuba and Egypt. However, blocker Mohammad Mousavi is confident in the team’s abilities. “This is a very tough job but we have the chance and we’ve shown our quality in the past. We have the quality to beat any team and win the gold medal,” he said. Mousavi is regarded as one of the best blockers in the world. Iran will play its first match against Argentina on August 7 at 9:30 p.m.
 
Men’s Wrestling Team:
Iran is also expected to shine in the wrestling portion of the competition. Iran won 3 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals in wrestling in the London 2012 games. In June, Iran won its fifth consecutive Freestyle World Cup title soundly defeating Russia 5-3 in the championship. Four-time world medalist Hassan Rahimi  is ranked second in the world in freestyle wrestling and is a favorite to receive a medal at the games. Iran will have participants in both the freestyle and Greco Roman style wrestling events which will go from August 14-August 21.
 
Taekwondo: Farzan Ashourzadeh, Mahdi Khodabakhshi, Kimia Alizadeh Zenoorin
Iranian competitor Farzan Ashourzadeh is currently ranked 1st in the world in the sport and is a strong favorite to win gold at the games. Ashourzadeh recently won the gold medal227f7f22-a40c-4edb-b271-8b161445db3d in the flyweight division at the 2014 Asian Games. Another Iranian favorite is Mahdi Khodabakhshi wh
o is the current world champion in the lightweight series. Kimia Alizadeh Zenoorin also hopes to bring glory to Iran in taekwondo. She won a gold medal in the women’s 63-kg at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games and defeated London 2012 gold medalist Jade Jones at the 2015 World Championship. The 18-year-old is one of nine females on the Iranian Olympic team. The entire Iranian Taekwondo team as well as
these three particular members have received widespread praise from other coaches and athletes throughout the world. The Taekwondo events will be held from August 17-20.
 
Men’s Weightlifting: Behdad Salimi
At 6-foot-6 and 364 lbs Behdad Salimi is referred to by many across the world as the Iranian weightlifting power house. He competes in the +105 kg class which holds the true heavyweights of the weightlifting competition. These men are considered the strongest in the world and Salimi aims to maintain his title after his gold medal performance in the 2012 London Olympic Games. There, Salimi lifted a total of 455 kg, 208 in the snatch and 247 in the clean and jerk. He was forced to miss the 2015 world championships because of a torn ACL but has made a full recovery for the games this year. You can watch Salimi on August 16.
 
Shooting: Golnoush Sebghatollahi
Iran is sending four female shooters to the games this year. Golnoush Sebghatollahi has already begun to make her presence known on the Olympic stage as she earned a silver medal at the Olympic Games Training Camp in France earlier this summer in the 25-meter pistol competition. She will be competing in this category on August 9. Sebghatollahi will also be competing in the 10-meter air pistol competition where she came in 4th in the event at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi. She will be competing in this category on August 7-8.
 
So grab your friends, order some chelo kebab, and break out your best green, white and red clothing because this Iranian Olympic team is definitely worth cheering for.
 
All of the members of Iran’s team as well as their respective events can be found here.

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