Komeil Ghasemi
Ghasemi at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Native nameکمیل قاسمی
Full nameKomeil Ghasemi
National team Iran
Born (1988-02-27) 27 February 1988 (age 35)
Juybar, Mazandaran, Iran
Height183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight120 kg (265 lb)
Websiteinstagram
Sport
SportWrestling
Coached byRasoul Khadem
Medal record
Representing  Iran
Men’s freestyle wrestling
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2012 London 120 kg
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio de Janeiro 125 kg
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2014 Tashkent 125 kg
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place 2014 Astana 125 kg
Silver medal – second place 2011 Tashkent 120 kg
Silver medal – second place 2015 Doha 125 kg

Komeil Ghasemi (Persian: کمیل قاسمی, born 27 February 1988)[1] is a retired Iranian wrestler who won a gold medal in the men's freestyle 120 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[2] Ghasemi was awarded his Olympic gold medal after the two wrestlers ahead of him failed drug tests.[3] Ghasemi is the most successful Iranian heavyweight wrestler at the Olympic Games.

He also won a silver medal at the 2011 Asian Wrestling Championships in the 120 kg freestyle discipline.[4] He was born in Juybar, in Iran's Mazandaran province but spent his childhood in Sari. He started wrestling seriously after moving back to Juybar.[5][6] Following his Olympic appearance, Ghasemi won the 120 kg weight class at the 2013 Freestyle World Cup in Tehran, Iran, helping his nation take gold in the tournament.[7] At the 2014 Asian Wrestling Championships he won a gold medal in the 125 kg freestyle tournament,[8] while at that year's World Championships he took silver in the same event.[9] He took silver in the 125 kg freestyle event at the 2015 Asian Wrestling Championships, losing the final to Aiaal Lazarev of Kyrgyzstan,[10] and the 2016 Summer Olympics, behind Taha Akgül of Turkey.[11] Ghasemi retired in 2019 after losing the Iranian trials for the 2019 World Wrestling Championships.[12][13][14][15]

Coaching career

As of 2023, Ghasemi is the head coach of Cambodian national wrestling team. He started his coaching position in October 2020.[16] Under Ghasemi Cambodian wrestlers recorded a total haul of 19 medals (three golds, three silvers and 13 bronzes) at the 2022 Southeast Asian Wrestling Championship, their biggest ever since first joining the regional tournament a few years back.[17]

References

  1. ^ Gjerde, Arild; Jeroen Heijmans; Bill Mallon; Hilary Evans (August 2012). "Komeil Ghasemi Biography and Olympic Results". Olympics. Sports Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  2. ^ Lloyd, Owen (19 September 2022). "Iranian wrestler Ghasemi finally receives London 2012 gold medal". Inside the Games. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  3. ^ "IOC Determines Taymazov Fails London Re-Test". United World Wrestling. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  4. ^ "ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIP - TASHKENT 2011" (PDF). International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles. May 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  5. ^ "کمیل قاسمی: می‌خواستم بعد از طلای المپیک خداحافظی کنم". mashreghnews.ir. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  6. ^ "Komeil Ghasemi". Athletes. London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. August 2012. Archived from the original on 8 December 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  7. ^ "Iran wins Freestyle Wrestling World Cup". Tehran Times Volume. 11652 22 Feb 2013. Archived from the original on 26 February 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  8. ^ "Asian Senior Championship - New Delhi (IND)" (PDF). International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles. April 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  9. ^ "Iran's Komeil Ghasemi wins silver in World Wrestling Championships". Tehran Times. 9 September 2014.
  10. ^ "Senior Asian Championship 2015 - Doha (QAT)" (PDF). United World Wrestling. May 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  11. ^ "Taha Akgul Beats Komeil Ghasemi for 125kg Wrestling Gold". WNBC. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  12. ^ Feiz, Ali (1 July 2019). "Three Yazdani's Win Iran Freestyle Team Trials, Ghasemi Retires". United World Wrestling. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  13. ^ "خداحافظی دراماتیک؛گریه سنگین وزن دلنازک". Varzesh3 (in Persian). Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  14. ^ "دلیل خداحافظی کمیل قاسمی مشخص شد" (in Persian). rasadvarzeshi.com. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  15. ^ "Komeil GHASEMI - Olympic | Islamic Republic of Iran". International Olympic Committee. 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  16. ^ "Cambodia hosts educational activities in lead up to Southeast Asian Championships". 29 March 2023. United World Wrestling. 16 January 2023. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  17. ^ Senase, Jose Rodriguez T. (3 January 2023). "Iranian coach sees 'bright future' for Cambodian wrestling". Khmer Times. Retrieved 29 March 2023.

External links


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Olympic Champions in freestyle super heavyweight
Olympic medalists for Iran
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