News / Sports

Iranian athlete books ticket for Rio Olympics

Sunday, 26 June 2016 2:17 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 26 June 2016 2:17 PM ]

Iranian long jumper Mohammad Arzandeh

Iranian athlete Mohammad Arzandeh was awarded a gold medal Sunday at the 2016 edition of the international track and field tournament in memory of the Soviet athlete Gusman Kosanov.

Arzandeh took part in men's long jump competitions at the Almaty Central Stadium, Kazakhstan, and leapt 8 meters and 16 centimeters.

With the gold medal, the 28-year-old Iranian sportsman also claimed a place in the forthcoming Rio Olympic Games.

He won the Islamic Republic of Iran’s eighth Olympic spot in athletics, elevating the country’s overall quota to a total of sixty.

Sobhan Taherkhani, another representative of Iran, also registered 7 meters and 90 centimeters in the same event, and clinched a bronze medal.

Later in the day, Mostafa Ebrahimi clocked 1:19.09 in the tournament’s prestigious 800-meter race and stood on top of the podium.

Ali Khadivar also recorded 20.85 seconds in the men’s 200-meter final encounter and took a silver medal.

Additionally, Mohammad Samimi claimed a silver medal with his best attempt of 59 meters in discus throw.

The achievements came a day after Iranian female shot putter Leila Rajabi snatched a gold medal with a winning throw of 17.40 meters.

Reza Moghaddam also set a record of 69.20 meters in the hammer throw event, and finished first.

Later in the day, Rajabi won an Olympic berth for the Islamic Republic with a winning throw of 18.04 meters.

The International Meeting G. Kosanov Memorial runs on June 25-26, and has brought together dozens of male and female athletes from various nations, including Iran, Kazakhstan and Russia.

Iran’s delegation in the tournament comprises of Reza Moghaddam, Maryam Tousi, Ali Khadivar, Reza Ghasemi, Sajjad Hashemi, Mostafa Ebrahimi, Sajjad Moradi, Keyvan Ghanbarzadeh, Mohammadreza Vazifehdoust, Mohammad Arzandeh, Sobhan Taherkhani, Mohammad and Mahmoud Samimi as well as Leila Rajabi.

Soviet sportsman Gusman Kosanov, born on May 25, 1935, competed mainly in 100-meter races. He represented the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, where he won the 4x100 meter relay silver medal with his teammates Leonid Bartenev, Yuriy Konovalov and Edvin Ozolin. Kosanov died on July 19, 1990, aged 55.

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