Iran’s Kiani seeking redemption in Paris after securing Olympic taekwondo berth
Nahid Kiani will be chasing her Olympic dream in August as the Iranian girl officially punched her ticket for Paris through the World Taekwondo Rankings on Friday.
Kiani retained the fourth spot in the women’s -57kg class of the latest Olympic kyorugi rankings – standing behind China’s Zongshi Luo, Team GB’s Jade Jones, and Canadian Skylar Park – to become the second Iranian to seal a taekwondo quota for the Games, following Mehran Barkhordari, who won a gold in the Grand Slam Champions Series in Wuxi, China, in December to guarantee a men’s -80kg slot.
Two more berths will still be up for grabs for the Iranians when the Asian Qualification Tournament gets underway in Tai’an, China, on March 15.
Chasing redemption
Kiani will head to the Olympics as the reigning world -53kg champion and will be among the favorites to leave the French capital with the ultimate prize of the -57kg contests.
The 25-year-old girl defeated China’s Zuo Ju in straight rounds for the country’s first-ever women’s world gold in Baku last June – a third major medal for the Iranian in an impressive 2023 campaign, which saw her also bag a couple of Grand Prix silvers in Rome and Taiyuan.
As if the Iranian needed more reasons to give it all out for the Olympic success, the occasion in Paris will provide Kiani with the opportunity to get over the bad memories of her participation at Tokyo Games.
Kiani suffered an early exit from the Games three years ago following a first-round defeat against her fellow-Iranian Kimia Alizadeh – a bronze winner for Iran in Rio 2016 who took part at the Tokyo event as a member of the IOC Refugee Team after leaving her birth country a year before.
In an interview with Varzesh3 earlier in January, Kiani opened up about her mental struggles after the setback.
“The bout was a one-off in the history of the Olympics and overcoming the unpleasant circumstances in the aftermath of the defeat was one of the hardest things to do in my life,” Kiani said.
“I was devastated by the fact that a part of my compatriots cheered my opponent’s victory and that’s why I had to seek professional help from a therapist.”
Kiani wrote in an Instagram post last week that she would leave the social media until the event in Paris to stay focused on “making my Olympic dream come true.”