Iranian athletes fail to clinch medals at Rio 2016 Olympics
Iranian sportsmen and women have demonstrated lackluster performances at the athletics competitions of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and have fallen short to claim a single medal at the major international multi-sport event.
On Friday, 28-year-old Mohammad Arzandeh took part in the men's long jump qualifying round competitions at Rio's Olympic stadium, and leaped seven meters and 31 centimeters to finish in the 15th position and drop out of the Olympics.
Chinese Wang Jianan stood on the top podium with 8.24 meters. American jumper Jarrion Lawson snatched the second spot with his best effort of seven meters and 99 centimeters. The third place was claimed by Australia’s Fabrice Lapierre, who registered 7.96 meters.
“I’m not happy with my performance. I do not know why I made such an awkward jump after months of training and camping. Even in unfavorable conditions, I would jump much longer than what I did. Even though I was physically fit for the contest, I could not concentrate and failed to meet the expectations,” Arzandeh said after his challenge.
Hamidreza Zooravand vied in the men's 20km race walk, but could only occupy the 54th position by clocking 1:27:50.
China’s Wang Zhen finished the race in 1:19:14 to snatch the gold medal. He was followed by compatriot Cai Zelin and Australian opponent Dane Bird-Smith, who recorded 1:19:26 and 1:19:37 respectively and won the silver and bronze medals.
Surprisingly, Iranian discus thrower and London 2012 Olympics silver medalist Ehsan Haddadi threw 68.18 meters in Group B, and missed the final round of the tournament.
Mahmoud Samimi, Iran’s other contestant in discus throw, had no better performance than 56.94 meters. He landed 13th in the overall rankings and could not advance to the finals.
In the women's shot put competitions, Leila Rajabi had a throw of 16.34 meters to finish 32nd overall and fail to progress to the next round.
The athletics competitions of the 2016 Summer Olympics started at Olympic Stadium on August 12 and will conclude on August 21.
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