Iranian athletes collected eight more medals at the 2016 Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday and Thursday
On the 7th day of the games, Wednesday, powelifter Siamand Rahman cleared the bar of 310 kg in the men’s over 107 kg, setting a new world record and claiming his second consecutive Paralympic gold, varzesh3.com reported.
The world’s strongest Paralympian of all time, Rahman, 28, set an early lead in the competition lifting 270 kg on his first attempt. By his second he reached 300 kg and broke the world record. He raised 305 kg and 310 kg in his third and fourth attempts and broke his own record two more times.
He had won gold at London 2012 with a 280 kg lift. Two years later, he registered 285 kg at the World Championships in Dubai, the UAE, and 290 kg at the Asian Para Games in Incheon, Korea.
“I feel very happy and proud,” said Rahman. “I want to be an inspiration for all people with impairment who stay at home and do not lead an active life, and especially for the youth.”
Egypt’s Amr Mosaad claimed silver with his 235 kg lift in the last round while Jordan’s Jamil Elshebli got bronze raising 234 kg.
“Winning silver is like winning gold to me. It is just impossible to defeat Rahman,” said Mosaad.
Shooter Javanmardi Wins Second Gold
On the same day, shooter Sareh Javanmardi won her second gold at the mixed 50 meter pistol with a record of 189.5 meters
The silver medal went to China’s Chao Yang who finished with 186.5 points ahead of young Ukrainian Oleksii Denysiuk on 160.8.
Javanmardi, 31, had won the first gold medal in the 10-meter air pistol.
In the javelin throw competitions, Sajad Nikparast managed to win a silver on Wednesday, with a throw of 62.74 meters.
Moreover, Asadollah Azimi vied in the men’s shot put competitions and picked a bronze with a throw of 8.14 meters.
Powerlifter Ali Sadeghzadeh Salmani elevated 226 kilograms to grab the bronze medal in the men’s minus 107-kilogram weight class.
Archer Nemati Wins 3rd Medal
On the 8th day of the event, September 15, female archer Zahra Nemati stood atop the podium in the women’s individual recurve competitions.
Nemati, 31, triumphed over her Chinese opponent Wu Chunyan 6-4 in the final encounter to win gold. Polish athlete Milena Olszewska got the bronze medal.
Nemati added the gold in Rio to the historic gold she secured in London. She was the first Iranian to secure a gold medal in both the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012.
“There was just the feeling that I had that I knew I was going to win today,” Nemati said. “That is why I was very calm and relaxed. I just knew I could do it. The energy from the people around me, the spectators, the people who wanted me to win, all this energy affected me and that helped me,” she added.
Last week, Nemati also won silver in the recurve open mixed team competition in Rio with Ebrahim Ranjbar.
In the men’s javelin throw, Iranian pitcher Mohsen Kaedi took the bronze medal with 33.42 meters. The Iranian thrower had won gold in javelin and a silver in shot put in the 2012 London.
Javad Hardani, 32, threw the javelin 48.46 meters and grabbed the bronze, handing Iran their third medal of the day.
Iranian athletes have already taken home 19 medals, seven golds, six silvers and six bronzes, putting Iran in the 14th slot of the medal table so far.
China tops the table with 191 medals and is followed by Great Britain and Ukraine, each with 108 and 92 medals respectively.
The US, Australia, Brazil, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Uzbekistan are in the 4th to 10th places respectively.
Iran has attended the event with 111 athletes, 88 of them are men and 23 others are women, in 12 sports fields.
