Iran at the Olympics
The first appearance at the Olympic Games for Iran was in 1900, competing under the name of Persia. Only one athlete, a fencer named Prince Freydoun Malkom was of Persian nationality. They did not send an offical team until 1948.
The Islamic Republic of Iran established their national Olympic committee, the National Olympic Committee of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in 1947 and was recognized by the International Olympic Committee on the same year.
Iran's first official participation to the Summer Olympics was in 1948, a year after their NOC was recognized by the IOC. From their official debut in 1948, Iran had only missed two Summer Games (1980 and 1984) due to the boycotts.
For the Summer Games that they did attend, Iran is known to be one of the most consistent medal earners in the Summer Olympics. Although they are yet to break through the 17th ranking, Iran still is one of the Summer Games' favorites. Iran's first-ever Olympic medal came when weightlifter Jafar Salmasi won the bronze for the men's 60kg weight class.
Their first gold medal though did not come until 1956 when fellow wrestlers Emam-Ali Habibi and Gholamreza Takhti won the gold in the Men's freestyle 67 kg and 87 kg weight class respectively but they will certainly not be the last Iranian Olympic gold medalists.
Iran has also started competing in the Winter Games starting 1956. They then missed the 1960 Winter Games in Squaw, Valley, USA then came back for the next four Winter Olympiads then again missed the 1980 to 1994 Winter Games. Since their return in 1998, Iran has not missed a single meeting although from their official debut in 1956, they are still yet to win their first Winter Olympics medal.
Trivia
- Tennis Champion Andre Agassi's father Emmanuel "Mike" Agassi represented Iran in boxing at the 1948 and 1952 Games before immigrating to the United States.
- The first Olympic medal for Iran was won by Jafar Salmasi. He came 3rd in weightlifting in 1948.
- The flag bearer in the opening ceremony for Iran in Rio was archer Zahra Nemati. She was making her Olympic Games debut, though four years earlier she became the first woman from Iran to win a Paralympic gold medal.
- At the 2012 London Paralympics,
Related Pages
- Iran at the Winter Olympics
- List of all countries that have participated at the Olympic Games.
- About sport in Iran
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
Current Events