Fasihi, Taftian punch Paris tickets as Iran seals 40 Olympic berths
Iranian sprinters Farzaneh Fasihi and Hassan Taftian secured their places at the upcoming Paris Olympics, taking the country’s slots at the sporting extravaganza to 40.
The final World Athletics Rankings before the Games – starting July 26 –were released on Tuesday, with Fasihi and Taftian obtaining wild cards for the women’s and men’s 100m contests respectively through the IOC’s Universality Places program, which allows any country with no male or female qualified athlete or relay team enter its best-ranked athlete in either the 100m, 800m or marathon events.
This will be a second Olympic participation for Asian silver medalist Fasihi, who was part of the Iranian mission in the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, while Taftian will head to a third successive Games.
The two sprinters will be joined by 28 male and 10 female Iranians in 13 other sports in Paris.
While the two freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling squads are expected to lead the country’s quest for glory, there could be a couple of Iranian dark horses emerging in other sports.
Aiming to become to most-decorated Iranian in the Olympic history, Hassian Yazdani (86kg) as well as reigning world champion Amirhossein Zare’ (125kg) will headline the five-man freestyle wrestling team – also including Rahman Amouzad (65kg), Younes Emami (74kg), and Amir-Ali Aazarpira (97kg).
Having beaten Turkish great Rıza Kayaalp to the world 130kg gold last year, Amin Mirzazadeh will be the Iranian to watch in the Greco-Roman contests, with Mohammad-Hadi Saravi (97kg) keen to improve on his Olympic bronze in Tokyo.
Mahdi Mohsennejad (60kg), Saeed Esmaeili (67kg), Amin Kavianinejad (77kg), and Alireza Mohmadi (87kg) are the other members of the GR squad.
In taekwondo, Iran will fancy a first medal since Kimia Alizadeh’s bronze in Rio 2016 when Nahid Kiani (women’s -57kg), Mobina Ne’matzadeh (women’s -48kg), Mehran Barkhordari (men’s -80kg), and Arian Salimi (men’s +80kg) on August 7.
Iranian girls Haniyeh Rostamian, Shermineh Chehel-Amirani, and Fatemeh Aminipajouh, as well as male prodigy Mohammad Beiranvand will be part of the shooting competitions, while Mobina Fallah will be the sole Iranian archer in Paris.
Mahsa Javer, Zeinab Norouzi, and Fatemeh Mojallal will take part in the women’s rowing, with Mohammad-Nabi Rezaei and Ali Aqamirzaei participating in the men’s canoe contests, though it is hard to believe any of the five Iranians will leave Paris with a medal.
The four-man saber team – comprising Ali Pakdaman, Mohammad Rahbari, Mohammad Fotouhi, and Farzad Baher – will be hoping to grab a historic fencing medal for Iran, while Pakdaman will still chase a last-gasp individual quota through the FIE World Rankings.
Weightlifter Mirmostafa Javadi will step into the men’s 89kg event as the reigning world champion and Ali Davoudi will be eager to add to his superheavyweight silver in Tokyo, though Georgian sensation Lasha Talakhadze remains the ultimate favorite to win the +109kg gold.
Alamian brothers, Nima and Noshad, will be looking to build on their medal-winning runs in last year’s Asian Games when contesting in the men’s table tennis, with Neda Shahsavari vying for a decent campaign in the women’s draw.
While Mahdi Olfati (artistic gymnastics – men’s vault), Ali Labib (cycling – men’s road race), and Samyar Abdoli (swimming – men’s 50m) will be looking to improve their personal records in Paris, former world champion Reza Alipour will be full of hopes for a first-ever medal in the men’s speed climbing.