which was a big disappointment, but overall the team did well enough so that Iran tied for third place, along with the United States.
Over the entire Olympics, Iran had nothing to complain about. It won more gold medals than it had ever done before, more silver medals and more total medals, twelve. Its medal haul this year put paid to the miserable result four years ago in Beijing when Iran managed a measly two medals—one gold and one bronze, one of its worst showings ever.
In overall medal tables, Iran came in 17th in the world. That was not a record for Iran, although many publications in Iran falsely reported that. But it was the best that Iran had ranked since 1956, when it was 14th in the medal tally
Iran had been expected to win gold in freestyle, which is the country’s premier Olympic sport. Of all the Olympic medals Iranians have won since 1948, more than two-thirds have been in freestyle.
While Iranian freestylers didn’t pan gold this year, the team proved collectively to be first rate. Only one wrestler failed to score in the top 10 and win points. (For team scores, wrestling awards 10 points to the gold medalist, nine points to the silver medalist and on down to one point for the tenth-ranked wrestler.
With 19 wrestlers from around the globe in each of freestyle’s seven weight divisions, the Iranian grapplers finished, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 8th and 14th.
That gave Iran team points totaling 38. Five teams scored 36 points or more, then there was a big gap to the sixth-place team and the others trailing. Here are the team totals in freestyle.
Russia 40
Georgia 40
Iran 38
USA 38
Azerbaijan 36
Japan 27
In Greco-Roman wrestling, reported in last week’s Iran Times, Iran came in second to Russia, which was far out in front. Here are the top teams in Greco-Roman wrestling:
Russia 45
Iran 34
Georgia 33
Cuba 29
Azerbaijan 24
Armenia 20
It is worth noting that three of the top six freestyle teams and four of the top six Greco-Roman teams were previously part of the Soviet Union. The breakup of the Soviet Union has given an Olympic opportunity to many wrestlers who might not otherwise make it under the one wrestler per country limit. It also shows just how truly rich the old Soviet Union was in wrestling talent.
Iran had one solid chance for gold in freestyle as Sadegh Saeed Goudarzi made the finals in the 74-kilo division, but he lost there to Jordan Ernest Burroughs of the United States. There was no testy nationalism at that match, however. Both men stood together after the match with their beefy arms wrapped around each other.
It may not have been exactly a political equalizer, but in the 120-kilo division, Komeil Ghassemi beat American Terrel Ivaylov Dlagnev to win the bronze medal.
Those were the only two times Americans and Iranians faced each other in freestyle—unless you count the 84-kilo match in which Jaime Yusept Espinal of Puerto Rico (which sends its own team to the Olympics) beat Iran’s Ehsan-Nasser Lashgari. Lashgari still went on to win bronze and Espinal to win silver.
At 96 kilos, Reza Moham-mad-Ali Yazdani looked solid for a medal but he lost in the semifinals due to injury and then in the bronze meal round lost again due to injury. That landed him in fifth place.
In taekwondo, Iran had competitors entered in two of the four divisions. With 16 men entered, Mohammad Bagheri-Motamed pulled down the silver medal at 68-kilos, losing to a Turk in the finals, while Yousef Karemi finished seventh in 80-kilo division.
In women’s taekwondo, it was different story. Sousan Hajipurgoli tied for last place among the 16 women entered in the 67-kilo division.
In boxing, Iran continued its decades-long medal drought. It sent boxers to four of the sport’s 10 weight divisions. Two lost in their first match, one lost in his second match and one made it to the quarterfinals before losing.
In the women’s canoe 200-meter sprint, Arezou Halimi-Moqaddam finished 26th of the 29 entered.
The Iran Times has found only one Iranian expatriate in the Olympics, Farzad Tarash, 25, who moved to Australia at age 12 in 1998. He was the only freestyle wrestler to qualify from Australia for the Olympics. He ended up ranked 19th and last in 60-kilo division.