Having sights set on Olympic triumph, Zare’ will be the Iranian athlete to watch in 2024
By Amirhadi Arsalanpour
Staff writer
Heading into 2024, Amirhossein Zare’ will be looking to build on an impressive three years in his career – most notably a dominant performance over the past 12 months – when beginning preparations for the biggest sporting prize of all: A gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
All eyes will be on the freestyle wrestler in the Iranian delegation for next summer’s event, after he reclaimed the superheavyweight crown in September’s World Championships in Belgrade before easing to the top podium at the Asian Games three weeks later.
“I will give my full dedication to the success in Paris right from tomorrow, when I wake up in my hotel room,” Zare’ said after he walked off the mat for the last time in Belgrade.
At the age of 22, Zare’ is already among the most decorated Iranian wrestlers over the past decade, courtesy of double world golds and a bronze, as well as the Olympic bronze in Tokyo in 2021.
The victory over Mongolian Mönkhtöriin Lkhagvagerelgold – world runner-up in 2022 – in the Hangzhou final rounded off a 13-bout winning streak in 2023 for Zare’, including a last-four win against Turkish sensation Taha Akgül at the World Championships, followed by an 11-0 demolishing of Georgian Geno Petriashvili in the final.
Zare’s second world final victory over the Georgian giant in three years was one of the seven wins that the Iranian sealed before the six-minute mark over the course of 12 months.
The Iranian tallied 115 points in three major international outings – starting with the Zagreb Open triumph in January – while conceding only eight points against his opponents.
In fact, Daniel Ligeti of Hungary and Belarusian Dzianis Khramiankou were the only wrestlers to take points from the Iranian in 2023.
Zare’, Petriashvili, and Akgül will again be involved in a three-horse race for the ultimate prize in Paris, unless American Gable Steveson, who embarked on a career as a professional wrestler after winning the gold in Tokyo, makes a surprise return for the competition.
Zare’ is all but guaranteed a place in the country’s Olympic squad but he will still have to see off fellow Iranian prodigy Amir-Reza Ma’soumi – a world gold medalist in all age groups, who threw down the gauntlet to Zare’ by dominating December’s National Championships.
The two are tipped to go head-to-head when representing the country at the UWW Ranking Series in Zagreb.
For all the illustrious wrestling history Iran has enjoyed in the Olympics since collecting five medals in Helsinki 1952 – including double silvers for Nasser Givehchi and legendary Gholamreza Takhti – a superheavyweight gold has been eluding the country over the past 29 editions of the multi-sport event, and the occasion in July and August could see Zare’ and Amin Mirzazadeh – world Greco-Roman champion in Belgrade – break that duck.
Retired wrestler Komeil Qassemi has an Olympic gold in the weight class under his belt, but he was only handed the ultimate prize of the freestyle 120kg category a decade after London 2012, thanks to positive doping test results for the initial top two Artur Taymazov and Davit Modzmanashvili.