Kimia Alizadeh Defeats Olympic Champion from London

Kimia Alizadeh secured the gold medal in the 57 kg category at the Grand Prix in Russia by defeating the Olympic champion from London. On the final day of the competition, the Iranian taekwondo athlete first overcame Huang from Taiwan and then Rachel Booth from the UK. In the quarter-finals, she managed to defeat a South Korean rival and world champion 22 to 10. Alizadeh reached the finals by winning against Martina Zubcic from Croatia to face Jade Jones. She fell behind in the first two rounds but made a comeback in the third round, taking the fight to the golden round. Alizadeh scored the first point and achieved victory, earning a $5,000 prize. Jade Jones had previously won the gold medal in London by defeating a Chinese opponent, marking the only Olympic championship title for the host in this sport. In the Grand Prix in Russia, Shakran Izadi and Akram Khodabandeh were eliminated earlier. In the men's 68 kg category, Abolfazl Yaghoubi finished third after losing to a Korean opponent. Another Iranian representative, Alireza Nasr Azadani, was eliminated after one win and one loss. Thus, Iran concluded the competition with one gold and one bronze medal for men and one gold medal for women. Points were awarded to medal winners towards qualifying for the 2016 Olympics. Before Ms. Alizadeh, Farzan Ashourzadeh had won gold against Carlos Navarro from Mexico. Kimia Alizadeh has achieved championship titles in several important competitions. She won a gold medal in the 63 kg category at the Youth Olympics hosted in China. As the flag bearer for the boys' and girls' delegation to these competitions, she was the first Iranian girl to win a medal at the Youth Olympics. Previously, in the World Taekwondo Youth Championships held in Taiwan, Kimia faced a representative from Germany in the finals at 52 kg and won 9 to 1 to secure a gold medal. With these successes, alongside Najmeh Khedmati and Elahe Ahmadi in shooting, she is one of the main hopes for Iran's sports delegation at the 2016 Olympics to win a medal for women's sports in Iran for the first time in Olympic history.