Riyadh 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games:
Khosravi wins shot put gold, but Uzbekistan pulls away from Iran in medals table
Yasin Khosravi added the 17th gold to Iran’s tally at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh with victory in the men’s shot put F57 class on Monday, but the country fell further behind Uzbekistan in the race for second place in the medals table.
Uzbekistan enjoyed success across the taekwondo, athletics, and fencing competitions to take its gold count to 21 by the end of Day 9, tightening its grip on the runner-up spot with four days remaining in the multi-sport event.
Reigning world and Paralympic champion Khosravi was in a league of his own at the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium, dominating with a best effort of 15.65m – 95 centimeters short of the world record he set at the World Championships last month. Türkiye’s Mohammad Khalvandi – a two-time Paralympic champion under the Iranian flag – settled for silver with a 14.45m throw, while Iranian-born Hamed Heidari, also representing Türkiye, finished third with 13.93m.
Taekwondo bronze
Meanwhile, Melika Mirhosseini capped a strong run for the Iranian women’s taekwondo squad by taking a consolation bronze in the +70kg weight class.
The team captain bounced back from a semifinal setback against Uzbekistan’s Svetlana Osipova to defeat Pakistan’s Manish Ali in straight rounds (5-1, 11-2) in the third-place bout, securing Iran’s fifth medal across six women’s categories.
Sayna Karimi, 19, was a surprise -46kg gold medalist on the opening day of the taekwondo event, while Yalda Valinejad settled for -70kg silver, and teenagers Hasti Mohammadi (-57kg) and Rozhan Goodarzi (-51kg) also finished with a bronze in their respective divisions.
Fatemeh Eskandarnia was the only Iranian woman to miss out on the medal following a 2-0 loss to Diyorakhon Azizova of Uzbekistan in her first bout in the -63kg category on Sunday.
Iran’s Hamed Asghari (-67kg) and Ali Ahmadi (+82kg) also finished empty-handed in the men’s competition.
The Iranian six-man squad collected three medals through Ali-Asghar Moradian (-60kg gold), Amirreza Sadeqian (-82kg silver), and Ali Khosravesh (-74kg bronze) across three days of taekwondo action.
“We sent our second teams to the Games. The squad included participants aged 17 and 19, who promise a bright future for Iranian taekwondo,” said Hadi Saei, chairman of the Iranian Taekwondo Federation.
“We came to these competitions with a well-structured plan. Even before the World Championships in October, we had adopted a strategy of giving opportunities to our young talents, and thankfully, that approach paid off,” added the taekwondo legend.
“We won’t abandon these young talents, as they are the future of our sport, and they will be given the chance to compete in upcoming events.”
Elsewhere at the Games, Iran routed the Maldives 49-13 to secure a semifinal spot in women’s handball.
Sanaz Rajabi, Aseman Badvi, and Bahar Eizadgashb led the scoring for Iran with six goals apiece, as the team finished runner-up to Türkiye in Group A and set up a last-four clash with Kazakhstan today.