Four medals and a historic first: Iran’s athletics team finishes Asian Games campaign

Iran’s athletics team finished its 2026 Asian Games campaign with four medals, including one gold and two silver medals, after Ali Amirian claimed silver in the men’s 800 meters in Nagoya.

Amirian clocked 1 minute, 44.97 seconds to take silver on Tuesday, adding to a gold medal won by Mohammad Reza Tayebi in the men’s shot put, a silver by Zahra Zarei in the women’s 400 meters and a bronze by Sadegh Samimi in the men’s discus throw.

The four-medal haul came from an 11-member Iranian athletics team competing in track and field events at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.

Tayebi provided Iran’s only athletics gold. He won the men’s shot put with a throw of 20.81 meters on Saturday.

Zarei added a historic silver in the women’s 400 meters. She ran 52.38 seconds to become the first Iranian woman to win an athletics medal at the Asian Games.

Amirian then secured Iran’s third athletics medal in Nagoya with his silver in the 800 meters.

Samimi completed Iran’s medal tally with bronze in the men’s discus throw.

Hadi Sepehrzad, head coach of Iran’s athletics team, said the squad had spent two years preparing for the Asian Games.

“Thank God, compared with the previous two editions of the Asian Games, we did not have a bad performance,” Sepehrzad said.

“We won four medals and, as you saw, one of the medals was taken away from us because of the rules that were implemented in these competitions. Fatemeh Mohitizadeh could also have won a silver medal,” he added, referring to the disqualification of Mohitizadeh after officials claimed that her shoes did not meet the regulations.

He added that two other Iranian athletes could have challenged for medals had they been in their best form.

The coach also highlighted Iran’s first appearance in the mixed 4x100-meter relay at the Asian Games.

“According to our plans, Iran’s mixed team competed in this event, and we had a chance to win a medal,” Sepehrzad said. “This was the first time we took part in it, with the support of the Ministry of Sport and Youth and the National Olympic Committee.”

The performance marked an improvement on Iran’s athletics showing at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. Iran won two athletics medals there, with Hossein Rasouli taking gold in the discus and Ehsan Haddadi winning silver.

Iran also won three athletics medals at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, including gold medals for Hossein Keyhani in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and Haddadi in the discus, as well as a silver for Amir Moradi in the 1,500 meters.

The four medals in Nagoya therefore represent Iran’s largest athletics haul since the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, when the country won five athletics medals.

Iran’s 11 representatives in Nagoya were Mohammad Reza Tayebi, Hassan Ajami, Hassan Taftian, Hossein Nouri, Ali Amirian, Benjamin Yousefi, Sadegh Samimi, Reyhaneh Mobini, Zahra Zarei, Fatemeh Mohiti-Zadeh and Maryam Kazemi.

The athletics program has now concluded, with Iran leaving Nagoya with four medals from its 11 athletes and a first appearance in the mixed 4x100-meter relay.

The Aichi-Nagoya Games are being held from September 19 to October 4 across venues in Japan, with around 17,000 athletes and officials from 45 countries and regions competing in 43 sports.

Iran's delegation, named “Minab Angels”—a tribute to the victims of the US-Israeli attack on Shajareh Tayyebe Elementary School in Minab on February 28—is competing at the Games with 305 athletes across 38 sports.

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