Success of Iranian Greco-Roman Wrestlers at the Paris Olympics; First Medal Achieved

The Iranian sports delegation finally secured its first medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Tuesday night. Eleven days after the start of the Paris Olympics, Amin Mirzazadeh, representing Iran in the 130 kg Greco-Roman wrestling category, faced Sabah Shariati from Azerbaijan in the bronze medal match and managed to defeat this Iranian-origin competitor to win the bronze medal. After the match, Sabah Shariati retired from global competitions by taking off his shoes, while Amin Mirzazadeh honored his rival by lifting him on the mat after the final whistle. Additionally, Iran's wrestling team is set to secure another medal on Wednesday, August 8. On Tuesday night, Mohammad Hadi Saravi solidified his place in the finals of the 97 kg Greco-Roman wrestling category with three strong matches. Saravi will compete against Arthur Aleksanyan from Armenia in the final on Wednesday night, and if victorious, he will wear the gold medal. Winning a medal for Saeed Ebrahimi and Alireza Mohammadi is also within reach, as these two wrestlers from Khuzestan have reached the finals of the Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling competitions. Saeed Ebrahimi defeated Ishaq Qayou from Algeria 10-0 in the 67 kg category. He then faced Luis Orta, the Tokyo Olympic champion and 2023 world champion from Cuba, in the quarter-finals, winning 9-0. He then advanced to the finals with a 10-4 victory over Slavik Galstyan from Armenia. During this controversial match, the referees initially awarded a technical victory to Galstyan, but after Iran's protest and video review, it was determined that he was out of bounds. In a previous encounter between the two wrestlers at the Poliak Cup in Hungary, Ebrahimi mistakenly celebrated victory thinking the match time had ended, but lost after Orta executed a move. However, this time he won decisively. In the 87 kg category, Alireza Mohammadi defeated Carlos Munoz from Colombia 9-0 and then beat Arkadiy Kolinich from Poland 10-1 in the quarter-finals. This Iranian wrestler faced Jean Beleniuk, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion from Ukraine, in the semi-finals and secured a spot in the finals with a 3-3 score due to having the last point. The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris will be held from July 26 to August 11, 2024 (5 Mordad to 21 Mordad 1403) in France, with Paris as the host city. The Iranian delegation is participating with over 40 athletes in this Olympic event.