Unpleasant Start to the New Year for Iranian Weightlifters; National Team's Failure to Secure Olympic Quotas

The World Weightlifting Championships in Thailand, the final stage for securing Olympic quotas for Paris 2024, did not start well for Iran. The Iranian national weightlifting team participated with only four male athletes, excluding female weightlifters, aiming to secure at least three Olympic quotas. For the training camp ahead of the World Cup in Thailand, fifteen male weightlifters: Ali Davoodi, Alireza Yousofi, Ayat Sharifi, Mostafa Joadi, Reza Dehdar, Alireza Moieni, Masoud Mamiyond, Alireza Abbaspour, Sepehr Mardani, Ilya Salehipour, Ali Alipour, Alireza Nasiri, Abolfazl Zare, Arya Paydar, and Abdollah Biranvand, along with three female weightlifters: Reyhaneh Karimi, Fatemeh Keshavarz, and Elham Hosseini were invited to the camp, but it was announced on January 30 that only seven would be sent to Thailand. Elham Hosseini was not sent to the World Cup in Thailand, and Reyhaneh Karimi and Fatemeh Keshavarz, who placed ninth and tenth in the 71 kg category at the Asian Championships, were removed from the camp without explanation. Elham Hosseini was also left out by the national women's weightlifting team's technical staff due to her record discrepancies with the Olympic entry. On February 24, 2023, doping tests were conducted on Ali Davoodi, Reza Dehdar, Mir Mostafa Joadi, and Alireza Abbaspour by WADA officials at the federation's location. After six weeks of training, the national team, led by head coach Navab Nasirshala, sent Ali Davoodi, Ayat Sharifi, Mostafa Joadi, and Reza Dehdar to Thailand for the World Cup. Alongside Nasirshala, three coaches: Bahman Zareh, Sohrab Moradi, and Ehsan Darabigi accompanied the team. Hussein Habibi, the masseur, and Bahador Molaei as the supervisor also supported the Iranian national weightlifting team at the World Cup in Thailand. Mir Mostafa Joadi, the world champion in the 89 kg category, secured his Olympic quota despite finishing sixteenth in Thailand, having lifted only 160 kg in the snatch and withdrawing from his other attempts. This quota marks the 79th Olympic quota for Iranian weightlifting in its 76-year Olympic history. Joadi's achievement is notable as he becomes the tenth Iranian weightlifter in the 89 kg category to qualify for the Olympics. Reza Dehdar, competing in the new 102 kg weight category, failed to secure his Olympic quota after lifting a total of 387 kg, falling short of the required 392 kg. The Iranian weightlifting team, which had previously only qualified for the Olympics in this category once in 1992, faced disappointment as Dehdar could not place among the top ten in the world ranking. Ayat Sharifi and Ali Davoodi are set to compete in the super heavyweight category for the remaining Olympic quota opportunities. The International Weightlifting Federation announced that weightlifters had seven opportunities to earn points for the 2024 Olympics, with the World Cup in Thailand being the last chance for those who had not yet qualified. With the exclusion of female weightlifters and Dehdar's failure, only two Olympic weight categories remain for Iran. Additionally, Hussein Tokali, the head coach of the Iranian para weightlifting team, attracted attention as he coached the Oman national team at the World Cup. The article also mentions various notable events and figures in Iranian weightlifting history.