Sports03 October, 20262 min read
Iranian Women Break Records, Win Multiple Medals at 2026 Asian Games
Iranian women win medals across diverse sports, achieving historic firsts at Asian Games. Moradi secures Iran’s 15th Asian Games gold in women’s taekwondo.
Iran’s women rewrite records
Iranian women delivered a record-breaking performance at the 2026 Asian Games, winning medals across an unusually broad range of sports and achieving firsts for the country. Fatemeh Mojallal won the lightweight single sculls, while Kimia Zarei and Zeinab Norouzi took gold in the lightweight double sculls within about 20 minutes on September 24, and Iranian women finished the rowing competition with two golds, two silvers and a bronze. Zahra Zarei ran the 400 metres in 52.38 seconds to win silver, becoming the first Iranian woman to win an Asian Games medal in a running event, and Reihaneh Karimi, 20, lifted a combined 243kg in the 77kg category to take bronze.
“Within about 20 minutes on September 24, Iranian women won their country’s first two Asian Games rowing golds.”
Saghar Moradi Sheikhlari won the women’s under-67kg taekwondo title on Friday, becoming the first Iranian woman to win an Asian Games gold in the sport, and the Iranian women’s breakthroughs came after preparations were severely disrupted by the war. Zarei told the Olympic Council of Asia, “We risked our lives because we wanted this moment,” adding that Iranian women and athletes in particular face “very unique challenges.”
Volleyball gold and revenge
Iran’s men’s national volleyball team secured its fourth consecutive Asian Games championship by defeating host nation Japan 3-1 in the gold medal match of the 2026 Nagoya Games on Saturday.
Roberto Piazza’s side won the first, third and fourth sets with set scores of 28-26, 19-25, 25-21 and 26-24, and the loss left Japan with the silver medal.
Iran’s victory in Nagoya avenged Japan’s earlier 3-0 win over Iran in the final of the 2026 AVC Men’s Volleyball Continental Championship on Sep. 13.
Tehran Times reported that Amin Esmaeilnezhad led Iran with 22 points, while Tatsunori Otsuka scored 22 points for Japan.
General Abdullahi framed the outcome as national pride, saying, “Raising the Iranian flag on sports fields is a manifestation of national pride.”
Medal table, more events
Tasnim News Agency reported that the fourteenth day of the competitions, held on Saturday, saw Iranian athletes participating in seven different sports, with Aren Salimi winning in taekwondo and Younes Emami and Amir Ali Azar Bira winning in freestyle wrestling. Mehdi Hajii Mousavi won the silver medal in taekwondo, Fatemeh Ahmadi won a taekwondo medal, and the badminton duo of Farsad Shahi and Amir Mohammad Gashmishi won bronze medals. Iran’s delegation raised its tally to 19 golds, 18 silvers, and 15 bronzes for a total of 52 medals, and it said the results of the remaining competitions on the final day would not affect Iran’s position in the medal table.
Iran’s men’s volleyball title was the third consecutive Asian Games title won by Iran, and it described the win as the only medal won by an Iranian team sport at this edition of the Games. Zarei told the Olympic Council of Asia, “I always try to show the good part of an athlete’s life and motivate the girls at home,” and she said, “I always try to show them that you can do this, you can do that, and you can be successful.”