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Iran Wins Its First Gold Medal at Tokyo Olympics

By Orkhan Jalilov July 26, 2021

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Javad Foroughi received 244.8 points in the men's 10m air pistol category and conquered the first place, setting an Olympic record and winning Iran's first ever shooting medal. / IRNA news agency

Sport shooter Javad Foroughi has won the first gold medal for Iran's team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Foroughi received 244.8 points in the men's 10m air pistol category and conquered the first place, setting an Olympic record and winning Iran's first ever shooting medal. Sport shooters from Serbia and China took second and third places, respectively.

Foroughi has become the oldest Iranian athlete to win an Olympic medal.

Iran's delegation comprises 66 athletes represented in 16 sports at this year's Olympic Games.

In a phone conversation, Iranian President-elect Ebrahim Raisi congratulated Foroughi for his achievement. The Iranian parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf also praised Foroughi, saying that "achieving a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in shooting, for the first time in the history of Iran's attendance, was a source of pride and joy."

Foroughi, aged 41, is a nurse in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He has reportedly taken part in the fighting in Syria as a member of the IRGC's medical deployment.

Brigadier-General Gholamreza Soleimani, the commander of the IRGC's Basij paramilitary forces, for which Foroughi is a volunteer, also praised the athlete. He said that "the waving of the flag of Islamic Iran in all parts of the world has always caused pride, honor, and dignity for every Iranian, especially that the cause of this victory is the faithful, zealous, hard-working Basij youth.