Iranian women aiming for clean sweep of karate golds at Asian Games
Iran will be looking to build on a stellar international season last year to chase an ambitious goal of a clean sweep of three women’s karate golds at the Aichi–Nagoya 2026 Asian Games in Japan, Fatemeh Pourzamani, the vice-president of the Iranian Karate Federation, said.
“Thank God, Iranian women achieved brilliant results last year,” Pourzamani said of the country’s 10-medal haul across different competitions on the sidelines of a national team training camp in Rasht this week. “We hope this upward trend continues this year.”
Atousa Golshadnejad headlined Iranian girls’ medal hunt, starting with her second Asian title in May, before the 22-year-old was one of three Iranian female gold medalists – alongside Sara Bahmanyar and kata practitioner Fatemeh Sadeqi – at November’s Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh.
Golshadnejad then capped off a glorious run of results with a historic feat in Cairo, grabbing the country’s maiden women’s gold at the World Championships, since the showpiece was first introduced in 1970.
For Bahmanyar, meanwhile, the international season was also one to remember as she added a second world bronze, as well as Asian individual and team bronzes to her ISG triumph, while walking away with the top prize at the Chengdu 2025 World Games in August.
“We have three major events ahead of us this year. One of our main objectives for the upcoming season is to win three women’s golds at the Asian Games in September,” Pourzamani added.
Before the Asian Games, however, Iranian women must compete at the Asian Karate Championships, which will kick off on June 19 in Bali, Indonesia.
“The event in Bali will be of huge importance for us, as it serves as a qualification path for the World Team Championships,” Iran head coach Pegah Zanganeh said on the penultimate day of the training camp on Sunday.
“The women’s national team is enjoying a golden era. I hope it inspires all three Iranian girls to win gold medals at the Asian Games,” Zanganeh added.
“Unfortunately, our preparation program was massively disrupted by the war, but my coaching staff and I have been designing proper training sessions to make sure the athletes enter the upcoming tournaments in peak physical and mental form,” said Zanganeh, a five-time medalist at the Asian Championships.
The newly concluded camp was the first of four set to be held until the Asian showpiece in Bali.