Wushu Champion Shares Contract Value With Earthquake Victims

After visiting the quake-stricken regions in western Iran, wushu champion Soheila Mansourian has donated 30% of her contract value with the Chinese wushu club Changchun to help children who lost parents in the earthquake in western last week.

A 7.3-magnitude earthquake jolted Kermanshah Province and the regions bordering Iraq on November 12 and killed at least 437 people, injured 9400 others and left thousands homeless.

Since then, Iranians across the country have sent relief aid to the region and several celebrities including artists and athletes have joined the nationwide effort to raise money for the victims.

“Help from the people and artists was impressive. However, I was moved by the predicament many children were caught in. Children who lost their parents and those wanting to save their lives had to run on broken glasses and now have to live in pain,” Mansourian said, Khabaronline reported.

After acquiring several national and international medals and awards, Soheila joined the wushu club Changchun at the Chinese Wushu Association (CWA) professional league in March.

Soheila has two sisters, Shahrbanu and Elaheh, who also are wushu fighters. They were born into poverty, in the small town of Semirom, Isfahan Province. From an early age their father made them work in the field to make ends meet. When their father leaves them, they decide to seek better life for themselves. They exercise, join the Iranian national Wushu team, win back-to-back championships and begin to see a brighter future.

They have won dozens of international medals and are an inspiration for Iranian girls with Olympic dreams.

Their sport has lifted them out of poverty and given them professional status and financial freedom. They are highly recognized and respected in Iran as pioneering athletes who bring medals and glory to the nation.

Soheila’s humanitarian gesture follows other Iranian athletes who have helped the bereaved people in Kermanshah in the past week in different ways.

Olympic weightlifting champion Kianoush Rostami was the first to announce the auction of his Rio Olympics 2016 gold medal to raise money for the quake-stricken areas. Female shooter Sareh Javanmardi put her 2016 Rio Paralympics gold medal for auction. Canoe polo champion Ramin Ghiasvand dedicated his Asian gold medal to the people of Kermanshah. Wrestler Masoud Mostafa-Jokar also put up his only Olympics medal for auction to contribute to the relief effort.