World Para Athletics Championships:
Bajoulvand wins discus gold, takes Iran’s medal haul to nine
Iran’s Hassan Bajoulvand won the ninth medal for the country at the World Para Athletics Championships on Friday, walking away with the ultimate prize in the men’s discus throw F11 event in in New Delhi.
A silver medalist in last year’s Paralympics, Bajoulvand secured the gold with a season-best 41.7m effort, with Brazilian world-record holder Alessandro Rodrigo Silva (40.14m) and Spain’s Alvaro del Amo Cano (39.28m) settling for silver and bronze respectively.
This was Iran’s fourth gold medal across seven days of action at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
On Thursday, two-time Paralympic champion Saeid Afrooz claimed his third world title in the men’s javelin throw F34 discipline.
The Iranian recorded a 41.52m throw with his fifth attempt, breaking his own world record from last year’s Paris Paralympics by 36 centimeters.
Elham Salehi won the in the women’s javelin throw F54 event on Wednesday, thanks to a successful 17.06m – the Iranian girl’s second medal in New Delhi, following her bronze-winning campaign in the shot put F54 event on the preceding day.
Iran’s second javelin medal in the women’s competition on Wednesday came in the F56 class, where Zeinab Moradi finished with a bronze.
Hajar Safarzadeh has been the only Iranian medalist in the track events, winning the silver in the women’s 400m T12 contest on Wednesday.
It was an all-Iranian one-two in the men’s shot put F11 final on Tuesday, as reigning Paralympic champion Amirhossein Alipour defended his world title in style, shattering the championship record with a 14.59m throw.
Three-time Paralympic medalist Mahdi Olad, who won the silver of the category in Paris, again had to settle for a runner-up finish behind his fellow Iranian, courtesy of a season-best 14.23 throw.
Amanollah Papi got Iran off the mark in New Delhi on Sunday, winning a bronze in the men’s javelin throw F57 event.