Brilliant Iranian Women

Morteza Afradian

Iranian Women in World Contests, Wushu Iranian women wushu players showed excellence performance in the 12th World Wushu Championships Cheras Kuala Lumpur Badminton Association Hall, and captured three gold medals. Elaheh Mansourian recorded impressive victories in her march to the final at Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium, and collected the gold medal in the women's 52-kg category of the Sanda section after she defeated her South Korean competitor.  Maryam Hashemi overpowered her French rival in the women's 65-kg class of the Sanda section, and was awarded the gold medal.

Shahrbanou Mansourian beat her Canadian opponent in the final match of women's 75 kg category of the Sanda section and won the gold medal. The 12th World Wushu Championships started at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium on October 28, and wraped up on November 6. The athletes competed in Sanda and Taolu sections.  Sanda (sometimes called Sanshou or Lei tai) has all the combat aspects of wushu, but includes many more grappling techniques.

Taolu involves martial art patterns and maneuvers. The forms comprise basic movements (stances, kicks, punches, balances, jumps, sweeps and throws) and can be changed for competitions to highlight one's strengths.  Wushu is both an exhibition and a full-contact sport derived from traditional Chinese martial arts. It was developed in China after 1949, in an effort to standardize the practice of traditional Chinese martial arts.

Iranian Girls Break the World’s Youth Record 10 Meter Air Rifle Event

Iranian shooter girls tried world cup 10 meter air rifle and succeeded to beat the world’s record in team pursuit. Iranian Young Women Shooting Team including Dina Farzadkhah, Fatemeh Tahiri and Nushin Shahbazifard competed with the rivals in 10 meter air rifle event. With gaining 1236.5 points, they stood higher than China (1234.5) and India (1218.8). Iran’s women shooting team not only won the golden medal of 10 meter air rifle, but also it broke the record of the world’s youth event. Already the German woman shooters had changed the world’s record in 10m Air Rifle Women and Women Junior with gaining 1234.7 points in Denmark’s 2013 competition, but Iranian young women succeeded to increase the record 1.8 points.

Iranian Woman Fencers Take 9 Bronze Medals in the Asian Games

Shahnaz Karud, Iran’s Fencing Federation vice president, said, “Iranian girls acted very successfully in the Asian Games and they own several medals for the first time in our history which made our nation very glad. Iranian girls won 9 bronze medals in the 2013 Asian Youth Games which played a considerable role in achieving the second position in the competitions”. Shahnaz Karud added that winning 9 bronze medals in the Youth Asian Games was the result of good camps we held before competitions. We try to run better camps for this team in order to harmonize our pace with the strong world’s teams.

Six Gold Medals for the Iranian Women Sailors

Narges Khodabandelou and Hovia Afzali Avval gained gold medal in the final competition of young women outrigger or double-hullcanoe. Nadia Talanak and Masumeh Danapour gained gold medal in the final competition of women outrigger or double-hullcanoe. Arezou Hakimi became champion in the Young Women Single Kayak.  Fatemeh Karamjani won the gold medal in the women single kayak.  Narges Khodabandelou and Hovia Afzali Avval gained gold medal in the final competition of young women outrigger or double-hullcanoe. Arezou Hakimi and Mina Abdollahi ranked first in the young women tandem kayaks and Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan teams became second and thirds, respectively.

Wind Girl

Maryam Tousi is a famous Iranian sprint athlete who is known as the “Wind Girl” for her high speed in the athletics. Being champion in the sport arenas is not an easy work and living normally like other people for athlete is not as simple as it may seem. When women start a professional sport, their personality gradually grows and becomes stronger and this institutionalized personality in such woman is so attractive that you can understand it in the first sight.

As other women athletes, Maryam Tousi enjoys a strong personality. Athletics is a sport that would not attract families at first, however Maryam Tousi says that her view to the sport was different since she was a little kid.

According to Tousi, she started athletics from school games and found her way to the nationwide competitions. Now after years of hard working in this sport, Tousi has become famous as the most honorable Iranian woman runner. She was the first Iranian woman who succeeded to win gold medal in the women’s 400m in the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Thailand (time: 53’’:85). She also improved the Iran’s sprint athletics several times. The world Sprint Athletics Federation put Maryam Tousi in 66 rank of the women’s 400m in 2013 and she became the third woman sprinter of Iran. The last presence of Tousi in the international competitions returns to the 3rd Islamic Solidarity Games in Palembang, Indonesia. Tousi not only won two golds in women’s 200m and 100m but also she broke the Iran’s record in women’s 100m. On her presence in this games, she said, “These competitions had a very high level, because the Muslim sprinters from all Muslim countries had come there. I intended to show my best performance in the competition and I wished to raise my country’s flag and I am so happy for winning the golds and improving the record.”

She won gold medal in women’s 200m with 27’’:72.

Tousi says, “I want to transfer what I have experienced in these years to the younger sprinters if possible.” She believes that what she has gained and intends to gain are for showing capabilities of the Iranian Muslim girls to the world. It has been demonstrated that Iranian women and girls have always been worthy representatives for the Iranian society and they have deserved very well all supports.

Iranian Women Become Asia Canoe Polo

Iran’s women National Canoe Polo team won gold medal in the Asian championship competitions. According to Fars News Agency, the Iranian Women Sailing National team including Elham Tahghighi, Farnaz Zeinalizadeh, Delaram Marzabadi, Saba Rahmati, Sonya Gomari, Elaheh Pourabdian, Shaghayegh Seyed-Yusefi and Fereshteh Husseini couched by Erfan Khalili and Jamileh Tahmasebi rivaled with Singapore national team in the last day of the Asian Canoe Polo Championship competitions. Iranian women canoe polo players beat Singaporean representatives (3-1) in finals and stood first and won the Asian championship one more time, Singapore and Japan became second and third, respectively.

First Iranian Woman Triathlete in the World Championship

Shirin Gerami, a 24-year-old woman from Iran, has won fame by becoming the country's first female triathlete to have taken part in the sport's world championship. By racing in the London event, she paved the way and set a precedent for thousands of Iranian women who have previously been denied permission to race in triathlons abroad or swim in international events.  Gerami raced in full Islamic dress after Iran's sports ministry issued required paperwork in the last hours before the final began.

The Islamic republic's state news agency, IRNA, quoted Mohammad-Ali Sabour, the head of Iran's national triathlon federation, saying that Gerami had secured an official honour and was nominated after the International Triathlon Union (ITU) agreed to set up a tent where she could change into her cycling and running clothes after swimming. She insisted she wanted to tell "the other story of Iran", that positive stories about her home country do exist.

"I wanted to show that what people dismiss as impossible is actually possible, and this universal rule applies to all countries, to all people."