Najafi wins Iran’s third gold at World Nomad Games
Iran’s Mostafa Najafi won the country’s third gold medal at the 2026 World Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan by claiming the top prize in the men’s +100kg Güləş event.
Najafi faced Azerbaijan’s representative in the title bout and secured a convincing 6-1 victory to claim the gold medal.
Güləş is a traditional Azerbaijani/Turkic form of belt wrestling.
Najafi’s gold came after Sajjad Soltaninejad and Reza Qeitasi had also triumphed in their respective events.
Soltaninejad claimed the Strongman title, finishing atop the standings after three days of grueling competition and successfully negotiating a series of demanding and heavy events.
Meanwhile, Qeitasi, Iran’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony, won gold in the men’s Tayak Tartysh on Wednesday, securing the first gold medal for the country’s 130-athlete delegation.
Tayak Tartysh, also known as mas-wrestling, is a strength contest originating from the Sakha, or Yakut, tradition. Two athletes sit facing each other with their feet braced against a board and compete by pulling on opposite ends of a short wooden stick. The aim is to pull the opponent across the board or take the stick away.
Qeitasi also represented Iran at the 2024 World Nomad Games in Kazakhstan, finishing runner-up in the Strongman competition behind the representative of the host country.
Sadeq Azarang got Iran off the mark on the opening day of the showpiece on Tuesday, settling for silver in the men’s +90kg kurash class, which featured 22 contestants, after suffering defeat to Uzbekistan’s Nomonjon Radjabov in the final.
An Asian Games gold medalist at Hangzhou 2022, the Iranian defeated opponents from the host country, Russia and Georgia before beating his Turkmen opponent to reach the final.
Mohsen Mirzaei, meanwhile, won silver in right-arm wrestling, while Iran’s four-man team, comprising Nader Kazemi, Sajjad Jafari Gohari, Abbas Azimi and Hamidreza Saeed, also finished runner-up in the tug-of-war event.
Maryam Farahaninia won bronze in Tayak Tartysh, while Abolfazl Heydarimehr took bronze in Alysh. Mohaddeseh Tabarok also claimed two bronze medals in right- and left-arm wrestling, with Amirreza Sahraei earning bronze in Sarym wrestling and Hassan Pooladi finishing third in the men’s 64kg sambo competition.