Paris Paralympics:
Iran retains sitting volleyball crown; Rostami, Khosravi shatter records for golds
Magnificent eighth
In a fifth final showpiece featuring Iran and Bosnia & Herzegovina, Hadi Rezaei’s men, chasing a third successive gold, got off to a shaky start with the European side, which kept Iran from winning the ultimate prize in 2004 and 2012, drawing first blood.
The Balkan team built on some brilliant blocking against Morteza Mehrzad’s spikes to take the first set 25-22, before the Asian powerhouse, cheered on by Paralympic archery legend Zahra Nemati on the courtside, bounced back in the second.
Mehrzad made his presence felt again, dominating in both attack and defense, though the Iranians still had to dig deep for a 30-28 win to tie scoreline at one-all.
The third and fourth sets, however, were the showcase of Iran’s undisputed dominance in the sport as points kept coming for Rezaei’s men, with the 25-16 and 25-14 wins giving the country a 3-1 triumph.
“Everyone thought it would be an easy contest for us, but it proved otherwise in the end,” said Iranian coach Rezaei.
“All teams work hard for four years to succeed in the Games and that is what the Bosnians had done. That is what sports are all about. We made some sloppy errors in the first set and they made the most of it, though we gradually took control of the game,” added the Iranian, who captained the country to the Paralympic crown in 1988, 1992, and 1996.
Earlier in the day, Egypt came out victorious against Germany in a five-set thriller, in which the two teams were separated by just six points, to win the men’s bronze.
Redemption for Rouhollah
In para powerlifting, Iranian Rostami headed into the men’s -80kg contests on the back of a disappointing finish, by his standards, in last year’s Asian Para Games, where he had to settle for a silver.
Chinese Gu Xiaofei, who beat Rostami to the gold in Hangzhou, was eager to come out on top against the Iranian in a second major event but the Paralympics proved to be the Iranian’s territory again.
Rostami looked to be back in his emphatic form in La Chapelle Arena as he made a quick work of clinching a second successive Paralympic gold.
His first lift of 230kg turned out to be enough to secure a top-spot finish, with the Chinese rival failing to go beyond 225kg, which eventually gave him a fourth Paralympic silver in a row.
The Iranian was then successful with the 234kg effort, before a final lift of 242kg saw him better the world record – set by himself in 2021 – by one kilogram.
Iraqi Rasool Mohsin’s 215kg tally completed an all-Asian podium.
“I had a serious injury in the chest area and the doctors said I wouldn’t make it to the Games. Thank God I recovered in time to win a third Paralympic medal,” said the Iranian, who also won a silver in London 2012.
“I had to endure some tough training sessions as I was eager to make up for the setback in the Asian Para Games. I knew what I was going to do from the get-go and had planed for the new world record,” said Rostami, whose medal was Iran’s second in the powerlifting competitions in Paris.
Mohsen Bakhtiar had to settle for the bronze in a closely-contested -59kg event, where only four kilograms were the difference between the top three.
Egyptian Mohamed Elmenyawy tallied 201kg for the gold, with China’s Qi Yongkai and Bakhtiar finishing on 200kg and 197kg.
Dream comes true
In Stade de France, Iranian Khosravi stole the show in the men’s shot put F57 final by thrashing the Paralympic record four times.
His first four efforts (15.26m, 15.87m, 15.94m, and 15.96m) were all a new high for the Games – with the previous record (15.00m set in 2021) belonging to Chinese Wu Guoshan.
The Iranian then registered 15.57m and again 15.94m in his final two attempts, which saw him miss out on his own world record of 16.01m, despite finishing 90 centimeters clear of Brazilian silver medalist Thiago Paulino dos Santos.
Hokato Hotozhe Sema’s best throw of 14.65m sealed the bronze for the Indian.
“All of my efforts were above the Paralympic record, but, unfortunately, I couldn’t better my own world record. This was my first Paralympics and I was really stressed out and couldn’t sleep until four in the morning,” said the Iranian, adding: “I’m 32 and spent half of my life dreaming about this day and triumph. I’m so glad all the years of hard work paid off.”