Yazdani defeated Russia’s Aniuar Geduev in the final showdown of the 74kg weight class at Rio Games, Tasnim News Agency reported.

In addition, Iran’s Komeil Qassemi, 125kg, finished in the second place in the rankings after Turkey’s Taha Akgul.

Georgia’s Geno Petriashvili ranked third in the same weight class.

In the 70kg weight category, Iran’s Moustafa Hossein-Khani also secured third position after Russia’s Magomed Kurbanaliev and Kazakhstan’s Nurlan Bekzhanov, who ranked first and second respectively.

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In a report listing the three best performances delivered by para-archers at the Games, worldarchery.org wrote roundup of the top moments of 2016 continued with the best performances of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games were the most followed Paralympics in history.

From stories of perseverance and sacrifice to true sporting emotion, the archery competition in the Sambodromo brought out the best of the Paralympic spirit.

After shooting in the Olympics in Rio, Nemati performed the extraordinary feat of defending a recurve title from London 2012 with a dramatic, 6-4, win over World Archery Para Champion Wu Chunyan in the Sambodromo.

“There was just a feeling that I had that I knew I was going to win today,” Nemati said. “That’s why I was very calm and relaxed. I just knew I could do it.”

Nemati also took a silver in the recurve mixed team with Ebrahim Ranjbarkivaj, bringing Iran’s total tally of archery medals to four.

Her seemingly endless popularity with the Rio crowd, who were chanting her name throughout, seemed to help.

“The energy from the people around me, the spectators, the people who wanted me to win — all this energy affected me and that was what helped me. I’m very happy, I’m so happy,” she said.

GB women’s W1 team

According to WA the best performance of the Games was produced by the Great Britain para archery team which, in a historic week building up to a golden final 24 hours, took home three golds, two silvers and a bronze to top the Paralympic medal table.

The report added the third best performance was given by China’s standout star compounder Zhou Jiamin who broke the world record for a 15 arrow match and earned gold in the compound women’s open and the compound mixed team open competition, the latter with her teammate Ai Xinliang.

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The scene opened the eyes of many, bringing greater awareness to Para athletes and continuing to inspire a generation of not only Muslim women but people in her country with an impairment, paralympic.org reported.

Nemati became the first Para athlete to carry her nation’s flag during the Olympics, and Iran’s second female flag bearer after Lida Fariman did so in 1996.

The scene of Nemati carrying the Iranian flag had great significance, and that is why it marks at No. 11 in the International Paralympic Committee’s Top 50 Moments of 2016.

“It was my honor as I was the only Paralympian participating in the Olympic Games as the flag bearer,” Nemati told Paralympic.org. “This matter led to change so many minds and people around the world that in spite of many severe challenges, we can make everything possible.”

Nemati added that not many expected to see a woman in a wheelchair carrying the Iranian flag during the Olympics Opening Ceremony.

“That moment was a surprise for the world; I always enjoy surprising the people,” she said.

The two-time Paralympian strongly believed that she raised the profile of the Paralympics when competing in the Olympics.

“Certainly,” she said. “Representing as a Paralympian sent an essential message to the world. That’s an important message that a Paralympian can qualify for Olympics to compete with elite [able-bodied] athletes and also act as a flag bearer for the country. I was so glad to forward this message with my presence in the Rio Olympic Games.”

Nemati made her name known four years ago, when she won the individual recurve W1/W2 at London 2012. That moment marked the first time an Iranian woman won Olympic or Paralympic gold, and she has continued to make history since then.

In November 2015, Nemati secured a historic qualifying spot for her nation at the Rio Olympics after her performance at the Asian Archery Championships.

She was one of the few Paralympians to compete at the 2016 Olympics, with Para table tennis players Natalia Partyka of Poland and Melissa Tapper of Australia among the other notable Paralympians.

During archery events at the Rio Olympics, Nemati put together a 28 in the second set to get on the scoreboard — but could not produce in the closing series, and ultimately fell out of the competition, 6-2.

She came back to the Sambodromo to compete in the Paralympics, where she successfully defended her title.

“Every edition has its own conditions and features, but as I was the only Paralympian in the Olympics; I had a peculiar feeling in the Games,” Nemati said. “The atmosphere was so competitive and all athletes aimed to stand on the podium. The Paralympic Games had another different experience. Since I always consider it like my home, I found the Paralympics more of a friendly Games.”

Nemati also noted that her stay in the Athletes’ Village during the Olympic Games was another different experience than her stay during the Paralympics.

“Although most of people were amazed, their reaction was so nice,” she recalled. “I was welcomed by the people and all tried to communicate with me since this matter was so unfamiliar for them; especially for the Brazilians who treated me so well.”

Just two years after a car accident in 2004 left her with spinal cord injuries, Nemati took up the sport that would lead her to become a national treasure.

Within six months she was beating able-bodied athletes at a national level and in 2010 broke her first world record.

After a hectic past few months following the Games, Nemati said all the receptions and ceremonies are done at the moment and she is enjoying downtime in her hometown Kerman. But she wanted to leave one more message: “I ask again all people with disabilities; never surrender in your disability. Be informed that sport is one of the best ways to overcome disability.”

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Iran’s Nemati had to overcome a strong Chinese rival Chunyan Wu in the final round of Women’s Individual Recurve – Open before standing on top of the podium.

London Paralympic champion Zahra Nemati subdued the Chinese archer 6-4 in the final showdown and added one more gold to Iran’s earlier tally of six golds in Rio Paralympic Games.

Milena Olszewska of Poland also won the bronze medal match over South Korea’s Hwa Sook Lee and landed third in the event.

Earlier, the female Iranian archer together with her compatriot Ebrahim Ranjabar had earlier won silver medal of Mixed Team Recurve Open after conceding a 3-5 defeat against Lixue Zhao and Chunyan Wu of China.

The Mina delegation of Iranian Paralympians at the Rio Paralympics is comprised of 111 sportspeople who vie at 12 fields of the 23 athletics.

Zahra Nemati is an Iranian Paralympic and Olympic archer. She originally competed in taekwondo before she was paralyzed in a car accident. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics she won two medals, an individual gold and team bronze.

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According to Tasnim news agency, the world’s strongest Paralympian, who had lifted 296kg at a World Cup in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, last February, was widely expected to break the 300kg barrier after years systematically improving his marks.

Rahman won gold at London 2012 with a 280kg lift. Two years later, he registered 285kg at the World Championships in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, and 290kg at the Asian Para Games in Incheon, Korea.

In Rio, the 28-year-old proved again that nothing can stop him in front of a noisy crowd that had gathered to witness the historic moment and never stopped chanting “Iran, Iran”.

“I feel very happy and proud for having broken the 300kg barrier and for being the strongest Paralympian in the world,” said Rahman afterwards. “I want to be an inspiration for all people with impairment who stay at home and don’t lead an active life, and especially for the youth.”

Egypt’s Amr Mosaad claimed silver thanks to his 235kg lift in the last round, whilst Jordania’s Jamil Elshebli (234kg) sealed bronze.

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Having attracted more than 10 thousand athletes, the 31st edition of Summer Olympics was convened from August 05-21 in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro while the closing ceremony was held on Monday morning Tehran local time.

Earlier on Sunday, Iranian freestyler Reza Yazdani conceded a bitter defeat by fall against Magomed Abdulmuminovich Ibragimov of Uzbekistan in the second chance group in order to miss the bronze medal match of 97kg weight category.

In the first round, Yazdani had defeated Turkish İbrahim Bölükbaşı 10-0 while he failed to breeze past Khetag Gazyumov of Republic of Azerbaijan 1-2. Later in repêchage round 1, the Iranian contestant faced Radosław Baran from Poland, and defeated him 5-2.

Mohammad Jafar Moradi of Iran,also, appeared in Men’s marathon event on Sunday where he clocked 2:31.58 hours to stand in the 129th place. Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya finished in 2:08.44 hours to the title of the long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometers.

Overall, Iranian athletes snatched 3 gold, 1 silver as well as 4 bronze medals competing in various sportive fields in Rio.

Iran’s weightlifting squad clinched two gold medals by Kianoush Rostami (85kg) and Sohrab Moradi (94kg). Also, Iranian wrestler Hassan Yazdani won finals of Men’s freestyle 74 kg over his Russian rival to add one more gold medal to Iran’s tally.

Iran’s only silver medal was received by heavyweight wrestler Komeil Ghasemi who conceded a defeat against his Russian rival in finals of Men’s freestyle 125kg wrestling event.

Saeid Abdevali (75kg) and Ghasem Rezaei (98kg) were Iranian Greco-Roman wrestlers who stood on the third podium while Hassan Rahimi also won a bronze medal in 57kg division of freestyle wrestling.

The fourth bronze medal of the Iranian outfit was secured by Kimia Alizadeh in -57 kg class of taekwondo who became the first Iranian woman to win an Olympics medal.

The Persians had scooped 12 medals (4 gold, 5 silver and 3 bronze) in the 2012 edition of the sportive extravaganza which was hosted by London.

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On Sunday and in the last day of Rio Olympics, in 97kg, Yazdani defeated Turkish İbrahim Bölükbaşı 10-0. In the second match, he however was defeated by Khetag Gazyumov of Republic of Azerbaijan 2-1 in a highly debated jury decisions. However, Gazyumov was a boon for Yazdani and sent him to a second chance for possible bronze medal. In repêchage round 1, Yazdani faced Radosław Baran from Poland, and defeated him 5-2. He should next stand against Uzbek wrestler Magomed Abdulmuminovich Ibragimov and if he wins, next match would be in front of Ukrainian athlete Valerii Andriitsev with whom Yazdani must fight for bronze medal.

In 65kg category, Meisam Nasiri was unfortunate to be defeated by Borislav Novachkov of Bulgaria. With the latter defeated in the hands of Franklin Gómez of Puerto Rico, Nasiri did not found any road to second chance group and was eliminated. With this, Iran would only win a single bronze medal by Yazdani in the last day.

Video: Reza Yazdani Vs Khetag Gazyumov

Video: Reza Yazdani Vs Magomed Abdulmuminovich Ibragimov

Video: Meisam Nasiri VS Borislav Novachkov

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The final contest of 125kg weight division in Men’s freestyle wrestling was held in opening hours of Sunday Tehran local time in Rioo’s Carioca Arena 2 where Iran’s Ghasemi failed to overcome Taha Akgül of Turkey and finished in the second place of the heavyweight category.

On road to the finals, Ghasemi had offered spellbinding performances by quelling Korey Jarvis of Canada 5-2 before subduing Diaaeldin Kamal Gouda Abdelmottaleb of Egypt 7-0. Later in his third encounter, the Iranian freestyler breezed past Georgia’s Geno Petriashvili 4-4 in order to reach semifinals where he thrashed Tervel Dlagnev of the United States by fall in less than one minute into the game.

Video: Fantastic match  Just in 30 Sec.  Komeil Ghasemi-IRAN VS Tervel Dlagnev-USA

The Turkish wrestler Akgül won the title while Ibragim Saidov of Belarus and Georgia’s Geno Petriashvili jointly stood on the third podium.

Komeil Ghasemi’s silver medal marked the eighth trophy won so far by the Iranian athletes present in the 2016 Olympic extravaganza./MNA

VIdeo: Final 125 Kg FS wrestling Rio 2016 OLympic

Video: Medal Ceremony 125KG FS wrestling Rio 2016 Olympic

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Rahimi had already received one gold, one silver and two bronze medals in free-style wrestling before the Rio 2016 wrestling competitions.

The 31st Olympic Games officially started in Rio, Brazil, on August 6. A sum of 10,444 athletes from 206 countries compete in 28 sport fields in Rio.

A sum of 64 Iranian athletes are competing in 14 sport fields of boxing, table tennis, shooting, bow and arrow, rowing, weightlifting, track and field, taekwondo, judo, fencing, volleyball, free-style wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling, swimming and cycling. /IRNA

Video: Bronze Medal Competition of Rio 2016 Hassan Rahimi, IRAN VS Yowlys Bonne, Cuba

Video: Medal Ceremony of Hassan Rahimi in Rio 2016 Olympic

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Competing in the final encounter of 74kg weight division, Yazdani offered a spellbinding performance against Aniuar Geduev of Russia 6-6 to win the first freestyle Olympic gold medal for Iran in 16 years.

The Persian freestyler had struck an off draw in the qualifications while he smoothly breezed past Asnage Castelly of Haiti in Round of 16. Later, Yazdani thrashed the Turkish wrestler Soner Demirtaş 3-0 in the quarterfinals and had to quell Kazakhstan’s Galymzhan Usserbayev 4-0 in order to reach the final round undefeated.

Video: Final Match 74 KG freestyle,  Hassan Yazdani vs Aniuar Geduev

Iran’s last freestyle gold medal in Olympic Games had been snatched by Alireza Dabir in Sydney 2000 and now Hassan Yazdani has broken the long-lasing spell by winning the title in Rio 2016.

Meanwhile, Iran’s representative at Men’s freestyle 57 kg wrestling event managed to stand on the third podium after beating Yowlys Bonne from Cuba 5-0 in a bronze medal match.

Photo Report: Hassan Yazdani in Rio 2016 Olympic Games

Rahimi, after a first round off draw, had overcome Armenia’s Garnik Mnatsakanyan 4-0 in his opening contest before gaining the upper hand against the Russian rival Viktor Lebedev 3-1 in the quarterfinals. Rahimi, however, conceded a defeat against Rei Higuchi of Japan 1-3 in the semifinals and was given the chance to fight for bronze in the losers’ group.

Yazdani’s gold, added to six other medal bagged earlier by Iranian athletes, has improved Iran’s position to the 25th place in the medal standings table between Argentina and Ukraine. /MNA

Video: Medal ceremony of Hassan Yazdani in Rio 2016 Olympic

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