Zahra Nemati

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games • Other
SexFemale
Full nameZahra•Nemati
Used nameZahra•Nemati
Original nameزهرا•نعمتی‎‎
Born30 April 1985 in Kerman, Kerman (IRI)
Measurements176 cm / 60 kg
AffiliationsTarasht [Islamic Republic of Iran]
NOC Islamic Republic of Iran

Biography

Zahra Nemati of Iran won an archery gold medal in the individual recurve (W1/W2), and a team recurve bronze medal at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. She is the first Iranian woman to win a gold medal at either the Olympic or Paralympic Games. Prior to her injuries suffered in the 2003 earthquake in Bam, Iran leaving her with paralysis of both legs, she had been a black belt in taekwondo.

Post-injury and just six months after taking up archery, the wheelchair-bound archer Nemati competed at the 2006 National Championships alongside able-bodied archers and finished third. As a result, she was invited to join the National Archery team and went on to win a medal in every championship she has competed in since. Her first international competition in para-archery was at the 2010 Czech Republic Championships where she broke the world record while winning individual gold and team and mix silver medals. At the 2011 Archery World Championships in Italy, she broke the world record in four distances (and also in the 30m event). At the 2013 World Para-Archery Championships in Bangkok, Nemati won a gold medal in the women’s individual recurve W2 and a bronze medal in the women’s team recurve. In 2015, she made history by qualifying for both the 2016 Olympic and 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, with her superb performance at the 2015 Asian Archery Championships in Bangkok. She is the first archer to qualify for both Games in the same year since Italian Paola Fantato in 1996.

Nemati has inspired her nation through her courage and determination and her successes, which encourages others in her country to get involved with the sport. In 2013 Nemati won Spirit of Sport Individual Award.

Born in Kerman, Iran, Nemati is married to Roham Shahabipour, also a Paralympian archer who finished eighth in the recurve, and sixth in the team recurve at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, and competed at the 2011 and 2013 World Archery Para Championships. A documentary about her life in the “Who I Am” series has been produced by WOWOW, Japan’s TV channel in collaboration with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as a five-year agreement leading up to the 2016 and 2010 Paralympic Games.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
2016 Summer Olympics Archery IRI Zahra Nemati
Individual, Women (Olympic) =33

Other participations

Games Role NOC As
2016 Summer Olympics Flagbearer at the Opening Ceremony IRI Zahra Nemati

Special Notes