Iranian athletes shine at 2016 Takhti wrestling tournament
Iran’s freestyle, Greco-Roman and Pahlavani wrestlers have been crowned as the champions of the 2016 Takhti Cup international wrestling tournament, which was held in memory of the legendary late Iranian freestyle wrestler Gholam Reza Takhti.
On Friday, the Iranian freestyle wrestling team clinched eight gold medals in all weight categories in the 12,000-seater hall of Azadi Sports Complex in western Tehran, and wrapped up the championship with 80 points. Armenia finished in the second place with 26 points; and the Belarusian wrestling team finished third with 25 points.
Iranian Greco-Roman wrestlers earned seven gold medals and 79 points to win the top honor. Athletes from Ukraine notched 38 points to rank second, and were followed by Azeris who racked up 22 points.
Iranian wrestlers Hamid Elahian and Ahmad Mirzapour also stood atop the podium in the 70-kilogram and over 90-kilogram weight classes of the Pahlavani wrestling bouts.
The 2016 Takhti Cup international wrestling tournament, which served as a qualifying tournament for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, started in the Iranian capital city of Tehran on January 14, and finished the next day.
A total of 12 countries, namely Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Hungary, Iran, Morocco, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Tunisia and Ukraine took part in the event.
Takhti, the most famous wrestler in Iranian history, died on January 7, 1968. He claimed the gold medal in Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games and won two silver medals in 1952 Helsinki and 1960 Rome Olympic Games.
Wrestling at the 2016 Summer Olympics is scheduled to take place from August 14 to 21 at Hall 3 of the Olympic Training Center in Barra da Tijuca.
Around 344 male and female wrestlers are expected to compete in 18 events of freestyle and Greco-Roman disciplines.
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