Sport in Iran
The society attached special status to sportsmen who thanks to their physical strength and courage, defended their family and homeland when the need arose.
According to their religious teaching, the Iranian Zoroastrians in their prayers sought first the beauties of heaven and then physical strength and mental power.
Even the Mages (religious sages) while engaging in prayers in their temples held a mace in their hands, not unlike the British bishops who hung swords on their belts.
Avesta, the sacred book of the ancient religions of Iran glorifies the champions and sportsmen as much, if not more than saints and men of God.
The older generation made arrangements for the ancient narratives and epics to be read to the young either from books or from those who had learned them from their elders.
In Ancient Iran, youths under 24 years of age received thorough training in the sport of their time which included miming, horsemanship, polo, dart throwing, wrestling, boxing, archery, and fencing.
[citation needed] Since 1979, women athletes have been subject to strict requirements when competing in Iran or abroad, with the Iranian Olympic Committee stating that "severe punishment will be meted out to those who do not follow Islamic rules during sporting competitions".
The committee banned women athletes from competing in Olympic events where a male referee could come into physical contact with them.
[4] They are active in various disciplines such as football, handball, basketball, weightlifting, shooting, taekwondo, wushu, karate, boating, athletics, volleyball, rock climbing, and chess.
Prominent female athletes such as Zahra Nemati, Hamideh Abbasali, Nazanin Malai, Farzaneh Fassihi, Leila Rajabi, Elahe Ahmadi, Nahid Kiani, Sarasadat Khademalsharieh are well known among the Iranian people.
[citation needed] According to a report in 2017, Iran's sports budget was very small this year and several decades before.
Some professional bodybuilders of Iranian descent include Baitollah Abbaspour, Javad Nabavi, Mohamad Farokh, Ali Tabrizi, Hamid Manafi and Zohair Al Karbelaie ("Arnold" of Fallah!
With a history of great wrestlers, such as Gholamreza Takhti (two-time champion at freestyle wrestling World Championships: 1959 and 1961), Iran is considered among the elite nations in this sport.
They competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, thanks to their gold medal in the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship, their first ever continental crown.
[15] Strength sports like weightlifting, powerlifting and bodybuilding have always held favor among Iranians and with the recent success of world record-holding super-heavyweight lifter Hossein Reza Zadeh, or Sydney Olympics gold medalist, Hossein Tavakoli, the sport has been returned to a rather high status.
Kabaddi is also popular in Iran although mainly in a select few regions like Gorgan, and Shehr e Sukhteh, Isfahan besides the capital Tehran.
They have also been Standard style World cup runner-ups (in 2004,2007,2016) Among other tournaments they have won the Kabaddi medal events at Asian beach Games in 2012 and 2014.
Iran is home to numerous mountainous regions, many of which are suitable for skiing, and snowboarding and are gaining increasing popularity among foreign visitors.
From the Tochal peak, there are views of the Alborz range, including the 5,610 metres (18,406 ft) high Mount Damavand, a dormant volcano.
Hiking and trekking enthusiasts find opportunities in locations like Alamut and Tangeh Savashi to enjoy the rustic surroundings, as well as a relatively challenging climb.
[17] The incident resulted in Mollaei's flight to Germany, after Iran persecuted him and his family in retaliation for the international humiliation.
Also, in late August 2007, the Iran national under-19 volleyball team surprised many by winning the gold medal in the Volleyball World Championship in Mexico, after beating France and China in the semi-finals and finals respectively and marking the first such international gold medal for an Iranian team sport.
Since the 1979 Iranian revolution, though never explicitly declared in the law, women were barred from attending men's football, swimming and wrestling competitions.
