Iran competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Since the nation's return in 1948 after having made their debut in 1900, Iranian athletes had attended in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era, with the exception of the 1980 and 1984 Summer Olympics.
The National Olympic Committee of the Islamic Republic of Iran fielded a team of 63 athletes, 54 men and 9 women, across 15 sports at the Games. It was the nation's second-largest delegation sent to the Olympics, and featured Iran's highest female participation in history. Men's volleyball was the only team-based sport in which Iran was represented at the Games, the nation's Olympic debut. Wrestling accounted for the largest number of athletes by an individual-based sport with 12 entries; there was only a single competitor each in archery, boxing, flatwater canoeing, rowing, and swimming.
The Iranian roster featured a number of past Olympic medalists, including discus thrower Ehsan Haddadi, who won the nation's first ever athletics medal with a silver, and four defending champions from London: weightlifter Behdad Salimi, and Greco-Roman wrestlers Hamid Sourian, Omid Norouzi, and Ghasem Rezaei. Other notable Iranian athletes included table tennis player Noshad Alamian and his younger brother Nima in the men's singles, rifle shooter and London 2012 finalist Elaheh Ahmadi, and paraplegic archer Zahra Nemati, who significantly became the nation's first ever female athlete to earn an Olympic or Paralympic title four years earlier. Consequently, Nemati's story and sporting success prompted her to lead the Iranian delegation as the nation's third female flag bearer in Olympic history during the opening ceremony.
Iran left Rio de Janeiro with a total of 8 medals (3 gold, 1 silver, and 4 bronze), finishing twenty-fourth in the overall standings. Five of these medals were awarded to the team in wrestling, two in weightlifting, and one in taekwondo. Among the nation's medalists were taekwondo fighter Kimia Alizadeh, who became the first Iranian woman to stand on the podium by taking the bronze, and weightlifter Kianoush Rostami, who bested his runner-up feat from London, lifting a new world record for gold in the men's 85 kg category.
Medalists
Medal Name Sport Event Date Weightlifting Men's 85 kg Weightlifting Men's 94 kg Wrestling Men's freestyle 74 kg Wrestling Men's freestyle 125 kg Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman 75 kg Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman 98 kg Taekwondo Women's 57 kg Wrestling Men's freestyle 57 kg
Medals by sportSport TotalWeightlifting 2 0 0 2Wrestling 1 1 3 5Taekwondo 0 0 1 1Total 3 1 4 8
Medals by date Day Date Total Day 1 6 August 0 0 0 0 Day 2 7 August 0 0 0 0 Day 3 8 August 0 0 0 0 Day 4 9 August 0 0 0 0 Day 5 10 August 0 0 0 0 Day 6 11 August 0 0 0 0 Day 7 12 August 1 0 0 1 Day 8 13 August 1 0 0 1 Day 9 14 August 0 0 1 1 Day 10 15 August 0 0 0 0 Day 11 16 August 0 0 1 1 Day 12 17 August 0 0 0 0 Day 13 18 August 0 0 1 1 Day 14 19 August 1 0 1 2 Day 15 20 August 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0Total 3 1 4 8
Competitors
SportMenWomenTotalArchery 0 1 1Athletics 9 1 10Boxing 1 0 1Canoeing 1 0 1Cycling 3 0 3Fencing 2 0 2Judo 2 0 2Rowing 0 1 1Shooting 1 4 5Swimming 1 0 1Table tennis 2 1 3Taekwondo 3 1 4Volleyball 12 0 12Weightlifting 5 0 5Wrestling 12 0 12 Total 54 9 63
Archery
One Iranian archer qualified for the women's individual recurve by obtaining one of the three Olympic places available from the 2015 Asian Archery Championships in Bangkok, Thailand.
AthleteEventRanking roundRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / ScoreSeedOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankZahra NematiWomen's individual60949 L 2–6did not advance
Athletics
Iranian athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):
Track & road events AthleteEventHeatQuarterfinalSemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankResultRankReza GhasemiMen's 100 mcolspan=2 10:477did not advanceHassan Taftiancolspan=2 10:173 q10:238did not advanceMohammad Jafar MoradiMen's marathoncolspan=6 2:31:58129Hamid Reza ZouravandMen's 20 km walkcolspan=6 1:27:4554
Field events AthleteEventQualificationFinalDistancePositionDistancePositionMohammad ArzandehMen's long jump7.3129did not advanceEhsan HaddadiMen's discus throw60.1524did not advanceMahmoud Samimi56.9430did not advancePezhman GhalehnoeiMen's hammer throw69.1528did not advanceKaveh Mousavi65.0329did not advanceLeila RajabiWomen's shot put16.3432did not advance
Boxing
Iran has entered one boxer to compete in the men's light heavyweight division into the Olympic boxing tournament. 2012 Olympian Ehsan Rouzbahani was the only Iranian finishing among the top two of his respective division in the AIBA Pro Boxing series.
AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankEhsan RouzbahaniMen's light heavyweightL 0–3did not advance
Canoeing
Sprint Iran has received a spare berth from the International Canoe Federation to enter a boat in the men's C-1 200 m to the Olympics, as the next highest-ranked nation, not yet qualified, at the 2015 Canoe Sprint World Championships, and as a response to the forfeiture of five boats held by the Russians due to their previous doping bans and their implications in the "disappearing positive methodology" set out in the McClaren Report on Russia's state-sponsored doping.
AthleteEventHeatsSemifinalsFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankAdel MojallaliMen's C-1 200 m41.6504 Q42.3866did not advance Qualification Legend: FA = Qualify to final (medal); FB = Qualify to final B (non-medal)
Cycling
Road Iranian riders qualified for a maximum of three quota places in the men's Olympic road race by virtue of their top 4 national ranking in the 2015 UCI Asia Tour.
AthleteEventTimeRankGhader MizbaniMen's road racedid not finishMen's time trial1:21:39.4531Arvin MoazzamiMen's road racedid not finishSamad Pourseyedidid not finish
Fencing
Following the completion of the Grand Prix finals, Iran has entered two fencers into the Olympic competition. Sabre fencers Ali Pakdaman and 2012 Olympian Mojtaba Abedini had claimed their spots on the Iranian team by finishing among the top 14 individuals in the FIE Adjusted Official Rankings.
+AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalSemifinalFinal / OppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankMojtaba AbediniMen's sabreW 15–9W 15–12W 15–13L 14–15L 8–154Ali PakdamanL 11–15did not advance
Judo
Iran has qualified three judokas for each of the following weight classes at the Games. London 2012 Olympian Javad Mahjoub was ranked among the top 22 eligible judokas for men in the IJF World Ranking List of May 30, 2016, while Alireza Khojasteh at men's half-lightweight (66 kg) earned a continental quota spot from the Asian region, as the highest-ranked Iranian judoka outside of direct qualifying position. Khojasteh subsequently withdrew from the Olympics before the opening ceremony.
AthleteEventRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsRepechageFinal / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankSaeid MollaeiMen's −81 kgL 000–000 did not advanceJavad MahjoubMen's −100 kgL 000–100did not advance
Rowing
Iran has qualified one boat in the women's single sculls for the Olympics at the 2016 Asia & Oceania Continental Qualification Regatta in Chungju, South Korea.
AthleteEventHeatsRepechageQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankMahsa JavarWomen's single sculls8:39.284 R8:06.573 SE/Fcolspan=2 8:45.542 FE8:43.3428 Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage
Shooting
Iranian shooters have achieved quota places for the following events by virtue of their best finishes at the 2015 ISSF World Cup series, and Asian Championships, as long as they obtained a minimum qualifying score (MQS) by March 31, 2016.
AthleteEventQualificationSemifinalFinalPointsRankPointsRankPointsRankPouria NorouzianMen's 10 m air rifle622.222colspan=2 did not advanceMen's 50 m rifle 3 positions116826colspan=2 did not advanceElaheh AhmadiWomen's 10 m air rifle417.83 Qcolspan=2 122.56Mahlagha JambozorgWomen's 50 m rifle 3 positions57427colspan=2 did not advanceNajmeh KhedmatiWomen's 10 m air rifle415.711colspan=2 did not advanceWomen's 50 m rifle 3 positions5836 Qcolspan=2 402.38Golnoush SebghatollahiWomen's 10 m air pistol37921colspan=2 did not advanceWomen's 25 m pistol57228did not advance Qualification Legend: Q = Qualify for the next round; q = Qualify for the bronze medal (shotgun)
Swimming
Iran has received a Universality invitation from FINA to send a male swimmer to the Olympics. AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankArya Nasimi ShadMen's 200 m breaststroke2:20.1839did not advance
Table tennis
Iran has entered three athletes into the table tennis competition at the Games. Nima Alamian and 2012 Olympian Neda Shahsavari secured the Olympic spot each in the men's and women's singles as the highest-ranked table tennis player coming from the Middle Asia zone, while Nima's elder brother Noshad Alamian scored a second-stage victory to take the remaining spot on the Iranian team at the Asian Qualification Tournament in Hong Kong.
AthleteEventPreliminaryRound 1Round 2Round 3Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankNima AlamianMen's singlesW 4–1L 1–4did not advanceNoshad AlamianL 1–4did not advanceNeda ShahsavariWomen's singlesL 3–4did not advance
Taekwondo
Iran entered four athletes into the taekwondo competition at the Olympics. Farzan Ashourzadeh, Mehdi Khodabakhshi, and Sajjad Mardani qualified automatically for their respective weight classes by finishing in the top 6 WTF Olympic rankings. Meanwhile, Kimia Alizadeh was the only Iranian female finishing among the top two in the women's lightweight category (57 kg) at the 2016 Asian Qualification Tournament in Manila, Philippines.
AthleteEventRound of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsRepechageFinal / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankFarzan AshourzadehMen's −58 kgL 3–4did not advanceMehdi KhodabakhshiMen's −80 kgW 13–1 L 5–17 did not advanceSajjad MardaniMen's +80 kgW 16–1 L 3–4 did not advanceKimia AlizadehWomen's −57 kgW 7–6L 7–8Did not advanceW 14–10W 5–1
Volleyball
Indoor
Men's tournament
Iran men's volleyball team qualified for the Olympics by picking up the continental spot as the highest-ranked Asian team at the first meet of the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Tokyo, Japan, signifying the nation's Olympic debut in the sport.
Team roster
Group play
Quarterfinal
Weightlifting
Iranian weightlifters have qualified five men's quota places for the Rio Olympics based on their combined team standing by points at the 2014 and 2015 IWF World Championships. The team must allocate these places to individual athletes by June 20, 2016.
AthleteEventSnatchClean & JerkTotalRankResultRankResultRankKianoush RostamiMen's −85 kg17912171396 Ali HashemiMen's −94 kg173721073837Sohrab Moradi18212211403Mohammad Reza BarariMen's −105 kg186622064066Behdad SalimiMen's +105 kg216 1245216
Wrestling