Iran's Second Gold Medal at Rio Olympics Goes to Sohrab Moradi

Sohrab Moradi won the gold medal in the 94 kg weightlifting category at the Olympics. This weightlifter is the second Iranian athlete to win a gold medal in Rio de Janeiro after Kianoush Rostami. With the second gold medal, Iran's sports delegation climbed to the twentieth position in the medal table. On the ninth day of the Olympics, Sohrab Moradi and Ali Hashemi competed in the 94 kg weightlifting category, where Moradi managed to secure the Olympic gold medal. Ali Hashemi finished seventh with 173 kg in the snatch and 210 kg in the clean and jerk, totaling 383 kg. Hashemi dropped the weight twice in the snatch but eventually succeeded. In the absence of several weightlifters banned from countries like Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Azerbaijan, the Zhilinski brothers from Poland also could not compete, marking the last disqualified participants. Moradi became champion despite previously announcing his retirement to the International Weightlifting Federation, which under the rules, barred him from competing. However, through the efforts of the Iranian Weightlifting Federation, he was able to return to the competition. Moradi started with a weight of 178 kg, which he failed, but succeeded in his second attempt. It seemed his first attempt was unsuccessful due to the atmosphere and his excitement. As the last weightlifter, he lifted 182 kg successfully, placing him in first place, five kg ahead of the second competitor. Hashemi attempted 220 kg in the clean and jerk twice but could not register this weight. However, Moradi started with 221 kg. Given the failures of other competitors to register better records, he secured his Olympic championship with this weight. The Iranian weightlifter attempted 234 kg in his second and third lifts to break the Olympic record but seemed less motivated and failed in the lift. Final results for the 94 kg category: 1- Sohrab Moradi from Iran with 182 kg in snatch, 221 kg in clean and jerk, and a total of 403 kg. 2- Vadim Astraltsov from Belarus with 175 kg in snatch, 220 kg in clean and jerk, and a total of 395 kg. 3- Aurimas Dziubinas from Lithuania with 177 kg in snatch, 215 kg in clean and jerk, and a total of 392 kg. Iran first won an Olympic gold medal in weightlifting in 1968 at the Mexico City Olympics. After Nasiri, Hossein Takali along with Hossein Rezazadeh, Behdad Salimi, Kianoush Rostami, and Sohrab Moradi have also become Olympic champions in this sport. This is Iran's seventh gold medal in weightlifting in Olympic history and the seventeenth gold medal overall in sports for Iran. After failing to win an Olympic medal, Ali Hashemi stated: 'The competition was very tough, and the opponents were very strong; however, I was hopeful to win a medal.' He continued: 'If I wanted to win a medal, I needed to increase my lead over my competitors, so we took risks and chose these weights in the clean and jerk. I said either a medal or the ranking didn't matter to me anymore.' Hashemi concluded: 'The Olympics is a big stage; I hope to achieve results in the next Olympics. Here, I competed against rivals whose preparation methods are very different from ours.' In the continuation of the weightlifting competitions, Mohammad Reza Barari and Behdad Salimi also have chances to win medals and increase the medal count for Iran's sports delegation.