Ārash Miresmāeli

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Ārash Miresmāeli ( Persian آراش میرسماعیلی Arasch Miresmaeli [ ɒːˈraʃ miːresmɒːiːˈliː ]; * March 3, 1981 in Khorramabad ) is an Iranian judoka and two-time world champion in half-light weight (up to 66 kg).

Miresmāeli became a member of the Iranian national judo team at the age of 15 . At the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney , he came fifth in the light weight category .

The following year he became world champion at the judo world championships in Munich . He was the first Iranian in history to achieve a world title. He was able to successfully defend his title at the 2003 World Championships in Osaka .

At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens , Miresmāeli caused a political scandal when he declared that he did not want to compete against the Israeli judoka Ehud Vaks in order to express his sympathy for the Palestinian people.

This statement in the run-up to the games met with heavy criticism. Miresmāeli was allowed to lead the Iranian Olympic team as the flag bearer during the opening ceremony when the athletes marched in. On August 14, 2004, Miresmaeli withdrew his threat of boycott. However, he was not admitted to the competitions after he exceeded the weight limit of 66 kilograms at the official weigh-in on August 15.

The press spokesman for the World Judo Federation, Michel Brousse , expressed his surprise that "an athlete from Miresmāeli, of all people, is overweight to weigh in" .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Lars Spannagel : Better to be overweight than having to compete against Israel. Tagesspiegel , July 31, 2008, accessed October 16, 2009 .