‘Fourteen years in the making’, Iranian Mobini says of Asian milestone
Reihaneh Mobini is grateful to see 14 years of relentless hard work and dedication pay off after the Iranian girl won a historic gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championships.
Having registered a second-best qualification effort of 6.33m in the long jump contest, Mobini saved her best for the final showdown in Gumi, South Korea.
The Iranian girl jumped 6.40m with her second attempt to walk away with the ultimate prize last week, clinching a first senior women’s gold medal for the country in 26 editions of the flagship continental event.
“This was a first outdoor tournament for me at the senior level. My entire focus had been on the Asian Championships since the first day of the international season,” said Mobini, who had every corner of her room covered by the motivational note reading, ‘You will have to win the Asian gold’.
“All top Asian jumpers were present at the competition, so my coach and I had to give everything to achieve our goal. The final event was delayed by two hours due to bad weather, which had an impact on the performance and personal records of all competitors. Thankfully, I still managed to jump 6.40m to win this precious gold medal,” added the Iranian girl.
Of her historic feat, Mobini said, “Honestly, I didn’t even know I was making history as the first female Iranian gold medalist at the tournament. When that gold medal was finally around my neck, I thanked God for keeping me strong through this tough path.”
“This medal wasn’t the result of just one year’s work, but represents 14 years of dedication to competitive sports. Along this path, I’ve fallen and failed countless times, but each time I rose up and continued stronger,” said Mobini, who is in her final year of dental school.
Speaking of the challenges of studying and being a competitive athlete at the same time, Mobini said, “It’s been an incredibly tough journey for me. I had to be at the university from 7 AM to 5 PM, then drag my exhausted body to practice. But this final year, with a lighter academic load, I could dedicate more time to training. It demands a tremendous sacrifice to make a balance between studies and sports.”
“I had eight or nine training sessions weekly, with each one lasting about two and a half hours. Because I strictly followed my coach’s program to make sure training would never disrupt my education.”
Next for the Iranian girl is the World University Games – starting July 16 in Rhine-Ruhr Germany – followed by September’s World Championships in Tokyo.
“This world event will be my first experience competing at this level, where I’ll face the very best in the sport. I won’t underestimate my abilities, and will give absolutely everything to perform at my peak – no matter what the final result may be,” said Mobini.
Mobini said her ultimate goal is to compete at the 2028 Olympics, though she prefers to “take one step at a time” until securing a berth in Los Angeles.