Record-breaker Paralympian Afrooz grabs world javelin gold
Iran’s Saeid Afrooz stole the show at the World Para Athletics Championships in Paris on Friday by shattering the world record en route to the javelin throw gold.
Representing the country in the F34 class, Afrooz – gold medalist at the Tokyo Paralympics – registered a remarkable throw of 40.27m for the ultimate prize, finishing above Colombian duo Mauricio Valencia and Diego Meneses, who settled for the silver and bronze medals respectively.
This was a third gold for Iran in Paris, following victorious shot put campaigns for Mehdi Olad and Rashid Masjedi earlier in the competitions.
Olad’s 13.79m throw sealed a second world gold for the Tokyo Olympic champion in the F11 event, while Masjedi topped the F53 table thanks to a successful 8.49m throw.
Olad won his second world medal in the French capital on Saturday – a discus throw silver in the F11 class with 43.73m. Also a reigning Paralympic champion, Amir Khosravani left the French capital with a long jump silver as a best attempt of 7.26m saw the Iranian finish second to Uzbekistan’s Doniyor Saliev in the T12 class.
In the women’s contests, Hashemiyeh Motaqian’s successful 22.95m attempt saw the Tokyo Paralympic gold medalist bag a bronze in the javelin throw F56 event.
The five Iranian medalists were joined by Elnaz Darabian, Elham Salehi, Amanollah Papi, and Alireza Mokhtari in securing a quota for next year’s Paralympic Games in Paris.