Ayatollah Khamenei lauds Iranian athletes’ performance at Rio 2016 Olympics

Ayatollah Khamenei has praised all members of Iranian sports teams taking part at the 2016 edition of the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

RNA – “I welcome and extend my gratitude to the recently-arrived Olympics delegation, to the champions who delighted the nation with their medals, to the athletes who were deprived of their right due to unfair refereeing, to the sportspeople whose failure does not reduce the value of their effort and endeavor, to the sportswomen who flaunted the honorable medal of the Iranian woman’s attire, to the brave lady who shone in the lead of the delegation in complete hijab, and to the country’s coaches and sports veterans,” the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, wrote in a message released on Tuesday.

The Iranian delegation landed in the 25th slot of the medal count table at the end of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Iranian athletes took home a total of 8 medals (three gold, one silver and four bronze).

Iran’s weightlifter Kianoush Rostami ended his campaign in the men’s 85-kilogram weight category tied on an aggregate of 396 kilograms, and was awarded the gold medal. The 25-year-old Iranian sportsman also improved his world record by one kilogram.

Sohrab Moradi, another Iranian weightlifter, also impressed the crowd in the men’s 94-kilogram contests, and raised a combined total of 403 kilograms overhead to top the podium.

Hasan Yazdani triumphed over Russian contestant Aniuar Geduev in the final bout of men’s 74-kilogram freestyle wrestling competition, and collected another gold medal for Iran.

Komeil Ne’mat Ghasemi lost to Turkey’s Taha Akgül 4-3 in the final meet of men’s 125-kilogram freestyle wrestling competitions, and earned a silver medal.

Taekwondo practitioner Kimia Alizadeh-Zenourin was named the first Iranian woman to win an Olympic medal, taking the bronze in the minus 57-kilogram weight class by defeating Swedish athlete Nikita Glasnović.

Hasan Rahimi claimed a bronze medal in the men’s 57-kilogram category of freestyle wrestling.

Greco-Roman wrestler Sa’id Abdevali prevailed over Hungarian counterpart Péter Bácsi 3-1 and won a bronze medal in the 75-kilogram weight class.

Ghasem Rezaei also defeated Sweden’s Carl Fredrik Stefan Schoen in the bronze medal contest of men’s 98-kilogram weight category.