IWF120y/38 – 1968: Mohammad Nassiri shines at the highest level for Iran

Iran has a solid tradition of success at the Olympic Games, with a total of 88 medals won so far. Two sports have particularly shone and lead the medal chart: wrestling, with 55 podium presences, followed by weightlifting, with 20. One legend has earned three of them (being the best lifter so far in Iranian history): Mohammad Nassiri. Born in 1945, he first took part in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, where he finished 15th. The three subsequent editions were far more successful for the Iranian lifter: in reality, he then collected a full set of medals, starting with gold at the 1968 Mexico City Games (56kg category: 112.5-105-150-367.5), then silver in Munich 1972 (56kg: 127.5-100-142.5-370), and finally bronze at the Montreal 1976 rendezvous (52kg: 100-135-235). At the World Championships level, he added four titles to his amazing harvest, after victories in 1969, 1970, 1973, and 1974. In 1966 and 1971, he was a bronze medallist at the IWF showcase. Finally, he also shone at the Asian Games, getting three consecutive gold medals in 1966, 1970, and 1974. Nassiri was also prolific in establishing new World Records: over his career, he improved 15 global marks. On a single day, on September 15, 1973, at the Worlds in Havana (CUB), he set four WRs (two in Clean & Jerk and two in Total). His personal bests in international events are: 105kg (Snatch), 128.5kg (Press, WR), 150kg (C&J, WR), 370kg (Total, with 3 events), and 240kg (Total, with 2 events, WR). If Nassiri was the first Olympic champion in weightlifting for his nation, he was not the first lifter with a medal at the Games: this honour belonged to Jafar Salmasi, in 1948, who was the first Iranian (all sports included) on an Olympic podium (bronze in 60kg category).