Iran Ends Paris Olympics With 12 Medals

Iran finished 21st on the table of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from July 26 to August 11.

Iran sent 41 athletes in 14 sports to the Olympics, and Iranian representatives won three gold, six silver, and three bronze medals in freestyle wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling and taekwondo, according to the ISNA news agency.

The USA took the lead with 40 gold, 44 silver, and 42 bronze medals, while China ranked second with 40 gold, 27 silver, and 24 bronze medals, and Japan ranked third with 20 gold, 12 silver, and 13 bronze medals.

A notable highlight was Iranian gymnast Mehdi Olfati, who became the first Iranian to reach the gymnastics finals, marking a significant milestone in the country’s Olympic history.

Iran moved up six places in the medal table compared to the preceding Tokyo Games in 2021, where the Iranian team secured three gold, two silver, and two bronze medals.

Several Iranian athletes have competed under different flags at the games, while 14 of the 37 athletes in the Olympics Refugee Team are from Iran.

In a couple of events, opponents of Iranian origin have faced one another. Iranians have widely debated a taekwondo match at the Olympics on 8 August between two former teammates, Kimia Alizadeh, who competed under Bulgaria's flag and Nahid Kiani, who competed under Iran's.

In 2020, Alizadeh announced her departure from the country and accused Iranian officials of sexism and protested against mandatory hijab. In her first interview after she left the country, Alizadeh appeared without hijab. She is the first female athlete to win an Olympic medal for Iran, having taken home a bronze from the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Iranian First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Aref said on August 10 that Iran would welcome back athletes who had left their homeland and had competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics as refugees or under the flags of other countries.

Iran will let them serve the country again, for "whatever reason" they might have left, as it is "the right of every person", Aref added.

There had been also calls to ban Iran from the 2024 Summer Olympics due to “human rights abuse” allegations following the executions of Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari and national karate champion Mohammad Mehdi Karami, crackdown on protesters and athletes during the Mahsa Amini protests, blinding of archer Kowsar Khoshnoudi-Kia, and defection of taekwondo medalist Kimia Alizadeh.