Will Yazdani be fit and favorite for Olympic glory?
By Amirhadi Arsalanpour
Staff writer
The future of Hassan Yazdani’s career has been the main talking point in the Iranian media since the freestyle wrestling sensation underwent surgery on his injured shoulder a couple of weeks ago.
Coming days after the Iranian’s gold-winning campaign at the Hangzhou Asian Games, the operation on the torn meniscus is believed to keep the 28-year-old away from action for five to six months.
A winner of a national-record nine world and Olympic medals, Yazdani had to struggle with the injury through September’s World Championships in Belgrade, where he had yet another disappointing finish, by his own standards, suffering a fall defeat against his familiar foe David Taylor, which gave the American a 3-1 lead in the head-to-head battles with the Iranian wrestler in the recent four major finals – including the showdown at the Tokyo Olympics.
A third world silver was still enough to secure a freestyle 86kg berth at the 2024 Summer Olympics – starting July next year in Paris – for the Iranian, meaning the Rio 2016 gold winner will not have to be involved in the qualification events for the Games.
While Yazdani has promised to “come back with a 100-percent fitness in the near future”, last week’s comments by the chairman of the Iranian Wrestling Federation Alireza Dabir – a gold medalist in Sydney 2000 – raised doubts over the wrestler’s form ahead of his quest for a third Olympic medal.
“No wrestler in Iran has fully recovered from a shoulder injury over the past 20 years. That’s what happened to me as my career came to an end when I was 25. Hassan showed great passion and resilience to participate at the World Championships and win a medal there but he just couldn’t continue like this. I hope he will be the first wrestler to overcome the problem,” Dabir said.
Many believe the decision to send Yazdani to two major events in quick succession contributed to his worsening conditions but Dabir said it was the Iranian’s “own choice to go to Hangzhou.”
Veteran Iranian Mansour Barzegar, the head coach of the national team in the 90s, shares Dabir’s opinion, saying: “From what I’ve seen over the years, no wrestler has ever been able to wrestle again after a shoulder injury.”
Some experts view, however, have offered optimism over Yazdani’s shape on his return.
Orthopedic surgeon Professor Sohrab Kayhani, a member of the Iranian Wrestling Federation’s presiding board, said: “All I can say is that Hassan is not an ordinary person. We’re talking about a wrestling great here and his mental and physical attributes are different from other people. I’m positive he will be back stronger after spending his recovery time.”
Yazdani’s surgeon, Dr. Hamidreza Aslani, says the Iranian had a successful surgery but insisted that “his recovery process” will play a decisive role.
“It will all depend on Yazdani’s determination from now on as it is important for him to adhere to his rehabilitation program,” said Dr. Aslani.
The timeframe for Yazdani’s return means the Iranian will only have two to three months to prepare for the Olympics.
Mohsen Kaveh, Dabir’s deputy in the Iranian freestyle team, says the period will be enough for Yazdani to head to the French capital as a favorite for glory.
“He is in a league of his own. I’m sure he’ll put in all his efforts to make it to the Games,” said Kaveh, though he added there are other alternatives for Yazdani, should he fail in the race against time for a proper challenge in Paris.
“Our priority will definitely be Yazdani but Ali Savadkouhi has recently moved up to the 86kg class and could be in contention for the Olympics, along with [former world silver and bronze medalist] Alireza Karimi as well as Hadi Vafaeipour,” Kaveh said.
Kamran Qassempour, a world 92kg champion in 2021 and 2022, who missed the September’s Worlds with an injury, may also join the list of the contenders for the Iranian 86kg singlet in Paris in the coming months as he is eager to add an Olympic medal to his trophy cabinet.
Only time would tell which Iranian will pose a threat to Taylor’s title defense in Paris.