Riyadh 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games:
Athletics glory headlines Iran’s medal-laden run on Day 13
The penultimate day of action at the Islamic Solidarity Games yielded 11 medals for Iran, including three golds in athletics.
Hashemiyeh Mottaqian gave Iran a flying start to Day 13 in Riyadh, capturing gold in the women’s para javelin throw F55/56 event.
The Tokyo Paralympic champion produced a best throw of 22.45m to secure the title, with Zeinab Moradi’s 21.98m effort sealing an all-Iranian one-two.
Meanwhile, Ali Amirian grabbed gold in the men’s 800m, crossing the finish line in 1:46.18, while Fatemeh Mohitzadeh scored 5,562 points to take gold in the women’s heptathlon.
Amouzad marches to gold
Rahman Amouzad was in his familiar ruthless form, inspiring Iran to a gold and a bronze in freestyle wrestling on Thursday.
The reigning world champion capped his dominant 65kg campaign with a 12-2 superiority win over Tajikistan’s Russian-born Abdulmazhid Kudiev in the final.
Kudiev gave the Iranian an early scare when he scored a takedown to lead 2-0, but Amouzad bounced back to score three stepouts before the break. Kudiev then tried a double-leg attack, but Amouzad countered with a magnificent chest-wrap throw for four points, making it 7-2 in the second period.
Tajikistan challenged, asking for two points, but at no point in the exchange did Kudiev manage to expose or control Amouzad, who now led 8-2 for the lost challenge. Two stepouts and a takedown later, Amouzad secured his second major gold in two months following his success at September’s Worlds in Zagreb.
Earlier in the night, Ali Mo’meni recovered from a quarterfinal setback against Azerbaijan’s Islam Bazarganov to make quick work of Afghanistan’s Sayed Omar Zazai (11-0) for a consolation bronze in the 57kg event.
Handball history
The Iranian women’s handball team capped off their impressive run with a historic bronze, defeating Uzbekistan 29-25 in the third-place match.
With star player Setareh Rahmanian sidelined by injury, Fatemeh Merrikhi led the scoring with 11 goals, helping Iran secure its first-ever senior international medal in women’s handball.
“It was a physically and mentally tough match, but we stayed focused on the small details, and my players implemented the game plan perfectly. I’m truly proud of them,” said Iran head coach Ana Seabra.
“This result was really important for us, but we can’t afford to get carried away by this medal. To genuinely progress, we need to compete in more events so we can improve step by step,” added the French coach.
There were further bronze medals in fencing, as the country settled for third place in the men’s saber and épée competitions.
The Iranian épée team – comprising Mohammad Esmaeili, Amirhossein Movashahi, Behnam Beik, and Mohammadali Khakzar – defeated Indonesia and Uzbekistan but fell 45-36 to Saudi Arabia in the semifinals.
In the saber event, the Iranian quartet of Ali Pakdaman, Mohammad Fotouhi, Nima Zahedi, and Taha Kargarpour suffered a 45-44 loss to Uzbekistan in the semifinal, though Iranian fencing chief Alireza Poursalman blamed controversial refereeing decisions for the defeat.
Elsewhere, Ali Akbarpour (men’s -85kg) and Hasti Hamoodi (women’s -70kg) added two jiu-jitsu bronzes to Iran’s medal tally.