Wrestlers to lead Iran’s quest for Olympic glory in Paris
By Amirhadi Arsalanpour
Staff writer
When the 30th Olympic Games get underway in Paris later in the summer, all Iranians’ eyes will be on the French capital’s Grand Palais Éphémère from August 5 to 11, as the country’s 11 wrestlers will be in hunt of the most prestigious prize in the sports.
Of the 76 Olympic medals won by the Iranians through the previous editions, the wrestlers take credit for 47, with 11 of the 24 golds for the country coming in the wrestling events.
Legendary wrestlers Gholamreza Takhti, Abdollah Movahed, Emam-Ali Habibi had the Olympic golds under their belts in the 50s and 60s, before Rasoul Khadem, Alireza Dabir, Omid Norouzi, Hamid Sourian, Qassem Rezaei, Komeil Qassemi, Hassan Yazdani, and Mohammadreza Geraei all left the Games with the ultimate prize over the past three decades.
The Iranian sport apparatus had a superb performance by the Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestlers to thank for a most prolific Olympic campaign in London 2012, while the wrestling competitions produced four out of the seven medals for Iran in the latest edition in Tokyo.
Expectations will again be high of the Iranian wrestlers in Paris after they claimed four runner-up team titles across the Greco-Roman and freestyle contests at the World Championships over the past three years.
Heading to Paris as the reigning world champions, Amirhossein Zare’ and Amin Mirzazadeh will be the hot favorites to walk away with the gold in the superheavyweight competitions.
Mohammad-Hadi Saravi, Rahman Amouzad, Younes Emami, and Alireza Mohmadi will also be looking to build on their world success in recent years when participating in the biggest sporting showpiece of them all, while Iranian freestyle prodigy Amir-Ali Azarpira could emerge as a surprise medalist in the freestyle 97kg event.
Meanwhile, Yazdani – a winner of a national-high nine world and Olympic medals – and Geraei – a gold medalist in Tokyo – are yet to secure their places in the Iranian squads, though they still fancy their chances of going all the way to finish on the Paris podiums.
The two Iranian coaching staffs are undecided on four slots for the Games – the Greco-Roman 60kg, 67kg, and 77kg berths as well as the 86kg spot in the freestyle team – with the outcome of the Polyák Imre & Varga János Memorial tournament, starting today in Budapest, playing a decisive part in completing the country’s two Olympic lineups.