Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI)

Overview

NOCNational Olympic Committee of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Flagbearers66

Participants

Olympic Games 577
Youth Olympic Games 126

Description

Although Iran was represented in 1900 by a fencer, Prince Freydoun Malcolm Khan, it was only in 1947 that Iran formed a National Olympic Committee (NOC). Iran was granted International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognition on 20 June of the same year at the IOC session in Stockholm. Apart from boycotting the Olympics of 1980 and 1984, Iran has competed at every Olympic Games since it made its Olympic début as a team in 1948.

Most of Iran’s success has come in the strength or combative sports of weightlifting, wrestling, and taekwondo. Through 2022, it has won 76 Olympic medals (24 gold medals), all won at the Summer Olympics, with 47 medals won in wrestling, 20 won in weightlifting, and 6 in taekwondo. But 2012 saw the first Iranian medalist in track and field athletics, when Ehsan Haddadi won silver in men’s discus throw. At Tokyo 2020, two Iranian athletes won gold in two new sports: Javad Foroughi, in men’s air pistol shooting at 10 metres, and Sajad Ganjzadeh, in men’s karate kumite >75 kg class.

Three Iranian Olympians have won three medals: Hadi Saei (taekwondo), Mohammad Nassiri (weightlifting), and Gholam Reza Takhti (freestyle wrestling). Only two Iranians have won two gold medals: Saei and Hossein Reza Zadeh, the latter in super-heavyweight weightlifting in 2000 and 2004.

Iran first competed at the Olympic Winter Games in 1956, then participated from 1964-76, and finally has competed at every Winter celebration since 1998, for 12 appearances in all. Iran Winter Olympians have only competed in Alpine and cross-country skiing.

In 1956, the Olympic Committee of Iran was awarded with the Count Alberto Bonacossa Trophy.

Participations by edition

Olympic Games

Edition As Men Women Total
1900 Summer Olympics Iran 1 0 1 Results
1948 Summer Olympics Iran 36 0 36 Results
1952 Summer Olympics Iran 22 0 22 Results
1956 Summer Olympics Iran 17 0 17 Results
1956 Winter Olympics Iran 3 0 3 Results
1960 Summer Olympics Iran 23 0 23 Results
1964 Summer Olympics Iran 58 4 62 Results
1964 Winter Olympics Iran 4 0 4 Results
1968 Summer Olympics Iran 14 0 14 Results
1968 Winter Olympics Iran 4 0 4 Results
1972 Summer Olympics Iran 48 0 48 Results
1972 Winter Olympics Iran 4 0 4 Results
1976 Summer Olympics Iran 80 4 84 Results
1976 Winter Olympics Iran 4 0 4 Results
1988 Summer Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 23 0 23 Results
1992 Summer Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 36 0 36 Results
1996 Summer Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 17 1 18 Results
1998 Winter Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 1 0 1 Results
2000 Summer Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 32 1 33 Results
2002 Winter Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 2 0 2 Results
2004 Summer Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 36 1 37 Results
2006 Winter Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 2 0 2 Results
2008 Summer Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 51 3 54 Results
2010 Winter Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 3 1 4 Results
2012 Summer Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 44 8 52 Results
2014 Winter Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 3 2 5 Results
2016 Summer Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 54 9 63 Results
2018 Winter Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 2 2 4 Results
2020 Summer Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 55 10 65 Results
2022 Winter Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 1 1 2 Results

Youth Olympic Games

Edition As Men Women Total
2010 Summer Youth Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 31 19 50 Results
2012 Winter Youth Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 2 1 3 Results
2014 Summer Youth Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 14 2 16 Results
2016 Winter Youth Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 1 1 2 Results
2018 Summer Youth Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 35 14 49 Results
2020 Winter Youth Olympics Islamic Republic of Iran 3 3 6 Results

Participations by discipline

Olympic Games

Discipline (Sport) Men Women Total
Alpine Skiing (Skiing) 18 3 21 Results
Archery 2 3 5 Results
Artistic Gymnastics (Gymnastics) 1 1 2 Results
Athletics 36 5 41 Results
Badminton 1 1 2 Results
Basketball (Basketball) 34 0 34 Results
Boxing 51 0 51 Results
Canoe Sprint (Canoeing) 4 1 5 Results
Cross Country Skiing (Skiing) 4 2 6 Results
Cycling Road (Cycling) 32 0 32 Results
Cycling Track (Cycling) 13 0 13 Results
Diving (Aquatics) 1 0 1 Results
Equestrian Jumping (Equestrian) 1 0 1 Results
Fencing 19 4 23 Results
Football (Football) 45 0 45 Results
Judo 14 0 14 Results
Karate 1 2 3 Results
Rowing 1 4 5 Results
Shooting 15 10 25 Results
Swimming (Aquatics) 7 0 7 Results
Table Tennis 6 1 7 Results
Taekwondo 10 4 14 Results
Volleyball (Volleyball) 19 0 19 Results
Water Polo (Aquatics) 11 0 11 Results
Weightlifting 55 0 55 Results
Wrestling 144 0 144 Results

Youth Olympic Games

Discipline (Sport) Men Women Total
3x3 Basketball (Basketball) 4 4 8 Results
Alpine Skiing (Skiing) 3 3 6 Results
Archery 1 2 3 Results
Artistic Gymnastics (Gymnastics) 1 0 1 Results
Athletics 7 0 7 Results
Beach Volleyball (Volleyball) 2 0 2 Results
Boxing 2 0 2 Results
Canoe Sprint (Canoeing) 2 1 3 Results
Cross Country Skiing (Skiing) 2 1 3 Results
Equestrian Jumping (Equestrian) 2 0 2 Results
Fencing 1 0 1 Results
Football (Football) 0 16 16 Results
Futsal (Football) 10 0 10 Results
Judo 4 1 5 Results
Karate 2 3 5 Results
Mixed Sports 1 0 1 Results
Rowing 0 1 1 Results
Shooting 3 2 5 Results
Ski Mountaineering 1 1 2 Results
Swimming (Aquatics) 4 0 4 Results
Table Tennis 1 0 1 Results
Taekwondo 7 5 12 Results
Volleyball (Volleyball) 12 0 12 Results
Weightlifting 6 0 6 Results
Wrestling 9 0 9 Results

Medals by Games

Edition Competition Type Gold Silver Bronze Total
2012 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 7 5 1 13
2018 Summer Youth Olympics Youth Olympic Games 7 3 4 14
2020 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 3 2 2 7
2016 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 3 1 4 8
2014 Summer Youth Olympics Youth Olympic Games 3 0 3 6
2000 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 3 0 1 4
2004 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 2 2 2 6
1956 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 2 2 1 5
2010 Summer Youth Olympics Youth Olympic Games 2 2 1 5
1968 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 2 1 2 5
1996 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 1 1 1 3
2008 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 1 0 1 2
1952 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 0 3 4 7
1972 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 0 2 1 3
1960 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 0 1 3 4
1992 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 0 1 2 3
1976 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 0 1 1 2
1988 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 0 1 0 1
1964 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 0 0 2 2
1948 Summer Olympics Olympic Games 0 0 1 1

Medals by sport

Olympic Games

Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total
Wrestling 11 15 21 47
Weightlifting 9 6 5 20
Taekwondo 2 1 3 6
Karate 1 0 0 1
Shooting 1 0 0 1
Athletics 0 1 0 1

Youth Olympic Games

Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total
Taekwondo 6 2 1 9
Wrestling 2 3 3 8
Weightlifting 2 0 0 2
Karate 1 0 3 4
Judo 1 0 0 1
Artistic Gymnastics 0 0 1 1

Most successful competitors

Includes medals won as part of mixed teams.

Olympic Games

Athlete Nat Gold Silver Bronze Total
Hadi Saei IRI 2 0 1 3
Hossein Reza Zadeh IRI 2 0 0 2
Gholam Reza Takhti IRI 1 2 0 3
Mohammad Nassiri IRI 1 1 1 3
Kianoush Rostami IRI 1 1 0 2
Komeil Ghasemi IRI 1 1 0 2
Hassan Yazdani IRI 1 1 0 2
Rasoul Khadem Azgadhi IRI 1 0 1 2
Ghasem Rezaei IRI 1 0 1 2
Emam Ali Habibi IRI 1 0 0 1
Abdullah Movahed IRI 1 0 0 1
Hossein Tavakoli IRI 1 0 0 1
Ali Reza Dabir IRI 1 0 0 1
Hamid Sourian IRI 1 0 0 1
Saeid Mohammadpour IRI 1 0 0 1
Navab Nassirshalal IRI 1 0 0 1
Behdad Salimi IRI 1 0 0 1
Omid Norouzi IRI 1 0 0 1
Sohrab Moradi IRI 1 0 0 1
Sajad Ganjzadeh IRI 1 0 0 1
Javad Foroughi IRI 1 0 0 1
Mohammadreza Geraei IRI 1 0 0 1

Youth Olympic Games

Athlete Nat Gold Silver Bronze Total
Kimia Alizadeh IRI
EOR
1 0 0 1
Kaveh Rezaei IRI 1 0 0 1
Alireza Kazeminejad IRI 1 0 0 1
Ramin Safaviyeh IRI 1 0 0 1
Mahdi Eshaghi IRI 1 0 0 1
Navid Mohammadi IRI 1 0 0 1
Mohammad Ali Eshkevarian IRI 1 0 0 1
Mohammadali Khosravi IRI 1 0 0 1
Alireza Yousefi IRI 1 0 0 1
Amirreza Dehbozorgi IRI 1 0 0 1
Mohammad Nosrati IRI 1 0 0 1
Yalda Valinejad IRI 1 0 0 1

IOC Members

Nezam Khoi 1921—1923
Samad Khan, Prince Momtaz os-Saltaneh 1923—1927
Gholam, Prince Reza Pahlavi 1955—1980
Seyed Mostafa Hashemi Taba 2000—2004