Wrestling World Championships:
Zare’ retains superheavyweight dominance as Iran bags triple medals
It was business as usual for Amirhossein Zare’ at the Wrestling World Championships as the Iranian defended his superheavyweight title in Zagreb on Sunday.
Ahmad Mohammadnejad Javan and Kamran Qassempour added further medals to Iran’s freestyle haul on the second day of the competition, finishing with a silver and bronze respectively.
Zare’ rounded off his emphatic run in the 125kg class with a 5-0 victory over European champion and Olympic bronze medalist Giorgi Meshvildishvili of Azerbaijan in the final showpiece.
The Iranian was awarded the first point through a passivity caution for his opponent and then scored on a takedown, followed by a gut wrench, with seconds left in the first period before controlling the proceedings in the second to secure his third gold medal in four editions of the Wrestling Worlds.
“I’m grateful that this [winning the title] has happened for the third time,” said the Iranian, who has now won six major medals, including a 2022 world bronze, since his making his seniors breakthrough in 2021.
“I just hope to keep winning gold medals for as long as I wrestle. This third one feels just as good as the others, and I dedicate it to the people of Iran,” Zare’, who also has Olympic silver and bronze medals under his belt, added.
Sunday’s triumph came as a bit of relief for the Iranian after last year’s heartbreak against his familiar Georgian foe Geno Petrashvili in a thrilling superheavyweight final at the Paris Olympics.
“That tough experience at the Olympics was really painful, and I’ll never forget it,” said Zare’. “I made mistakes myself. For the last 13 months, I’ve only been focused on training – so that my next medal would be gold and to make up for those mistakes.”
The latest triumph reaffirmed Zare’s spot among the top 100 most decorated wrestlers of all time, placing him alongside fellow Iranians Abdollah Movahed, Gholamreza Takhti, Rasoul Khadem, Hamid Sourian, and Hassan Yazdani.
At 24, Zare’ still has years of glory ahead of him, with his sights already set on the elusive Olympic crown in Los Angeles in three years.
“I’ll keep grinding, keep pushing, until I get better and finally win that Olympic gold,” Zare’ said.
Elsewhere, former under-23 and junior world bronze medalist Javan marked his senior debut at the World Championships with a silver medal in the 61kg division.
An Asian bronze medalist in March, Javan, 21, enjoyed an impressive run to the final showpiece – including a last-gasp 3-2 win against North Korean Kim Kum-hyok in the semifinals – but was always the second best in Sunday’s showdown against Russian former Olympic champion Zaur Uguev, competing as a neutral athlete, who secured a superiority win (11-2) to clinch his third world gold.
Qassempour, meanwhile, recovered from a last-four 7-0 setback against American Zahid Valencia on the preceding night to make quick work of Indian Mukul Dahiya by superiority (10-0) and finish his 86kg campaign with a consolation bronze.
“Thank God I’m not going to return to Iran empty-handed, I just hope this medal brings joy to my people,” Qassempour, a two-time world 92kg champion, said after the bout.
Citing an illness in the days leading to the competition, Qassempour added: “I don’t want to come up with excuses but God knows how I’ve been feeling recently. I just hope to make up for missing the gold in the future.”
The morning session of Day 2 in Zagreb was one to forget for Iranian wrestling, as none of the country’s four contestants in action managed to reach to the final in their respective events.
Representing the country in the 57kg class, Ali Mo’meni suffered a second-round exit after a shock fall defeat against Mexican Roman Bravo-Young.
Younes Emami, meanwhile, suffered a comprehensive 11-4 loss to Kota Takahashi of Japan in the 74kg quarterfinals but remained on course for a third bronze medal of his career after the Japanese progressed to the final.
Four-time world medalist Mohammad Nokhodi fell to an 8-3 setback against Georgios Kougioumtsidis of Greece in the 79kg last four, while reigning Asian champion Amirhossein Firouzpour failed to reach the final on his World Championships debut following a semifinal defeat (11-6) against Russian Amanula Gadzhimagomedov in the 92kg category.