Hassan Rahnavardi

Hassan Rahnavardi’s first major international weightlifting medal came at the 1949 World Championships, where he won bronze as a middleweight. Two years later he repeated this feat as a light-heavyweight and also took gold at the Asian Games. At the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, he just missed the podium in fourth. He then moved up to the middle-heavyweight division and took bronze for a third time at the Worlds in 1955, before finally moving up to silver in 1957. In-between, he was again fourth at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. His last major international medal came at the 1958 Asian Games, where he again captured gold.

During his career, Rahnavardi earned a degree in dentistry from the University of Tehran and later received a master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University and a doctorate of public health from Tulane University. Upon returning to Iran, he worked in the Ministry of Health and also served as Secretary General of the country’s national Olympic committee. He also served as an elected political in the National Assembly, as well as governor of Yazd, but fled the country after the Iranian Revolution, eventually settling in the United States.