Iranian Olfati on historic gymnastics medal at Asian Games
Mahdieh Qazvinian
Staff writer
Of the 285 Iranian athletes in the recently-finished Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, only 12 – along with the men’s volleyball team – managed to walk away with the ultimate prize of their respective contests.
The outcome was probably not what the Iranian Sport Ministry and the National Olympic Committee had hoped for prior to the Games, as the number of golds was seven short of the figure the country bagged in Jakarta-Palembang 2018, being the lowest haul since 2006, when the Iranian athletes grabbed 11 golds in Doha.
Despite all the lack of success and below-par performances during the 15 days, the Iranian sport still reveled in some impressive achievements in Hangzhou, which could offer new sources of joy and glory in the future international events.
The Iranian five-man team notched up a first-ever chess gold in the Games for the country, with Faranak Parto-Azar becoming the first Iranian woman over the 19 edition of the event to win a mountain biking medal – a cross country bronze.
A couple of men’s team and doubles bronzes brought Iran’s 65-year drought in the table tennis competitions of the Asian Games to an end, while Taraneh Ahmadi was an unlikely hero for the country by winning a roller-skating silver.
Mahdi Olfati was also a surprise Iranian medalist in Hangzhou, who, despite failing to finish his campaign with a gold, wrote his name into history books, when he snatched a maiden gymnastics medal for the country at the Asian Games by taking a precious silver in the men’s vault competition.
“The Asian Games are among the most prestigious sporting events for every athlete and country in the continent,” Olfati told Iran Daily, adding: “The gymnastics competitions were held at the highest level as some of the world-class contestants took part at the event.”
“China and Japan are among the gymnastics hubs in the world and had some top-ranked athletes in the Games. I’m thrilled to have competed with them in Hangzhou,” said the 24-year-old Iranian, who scored 14.783 points to finish behind Japanese Wataru Tanigawa – a four-time world medalist and an Olympic silver winner in Tokyo two years ago.
“We were barely regarded as the favorites for glory in the past, but now we are among the medal hopefuls at every tournament. I’m sure other Iranians also deserved to leave the Asian Games with a medal,” Olfati said.
Olfati’s silver sums up years of improvement and development in the gymnastics in Iran, headlined by Mahdi Ahmad-Kohani and Saeedreza Keikha, who have won multiple world and continental medals in recent years, with the latter having several moves named after him in the pommel horse category.
“I wish I can also register a couple of moves in the FIG’s Code of Points one day, just like Keikha did,” Olfati said of his future ambitions.
Next for the Iranian are the Olympic qualifying tournaments in the coming months before the main event in Paris next year.
“I’ll participate in four Olympic qualification events, which will get underway in March and will be hosted by Egypt, Germany, Qatar, and Azerbaijan. An overall top-two finish across the four tournaments will secure a berth in the Olympics,” added Olfati, whose ultimate goal is “to win a medal in Paris.”
Having started in the gymnastics in the age of seven, Olfati joined the national team in 2017 and went on to represent the country at the Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires a year later before grabbing a vault silver at the FIG World Cup series in Cottbus, Germany, earlier this year.
When asked about his future plans, Olfati said he would be looking to “open a top-notch gymnastics academy in my home town in Golestan Province [in northeast Iran].”