Anoushiravan Nourian (; born 25 January 1972) is a retired amateur Iranian-born Australian boxer. He picked up a bronze medal in the

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

at the

1994 Asian Games The 1994 Asian Games (), also known as the XII Asiad and the 12th Asian Games () or simply Hiroshima 1994 (), were held from October 2 to 16, 1994, in Hiroshima, Japan. It was the first Asian Games in history to be hosted in a non-capital city. Th ...

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

, and also competed in two editions of the Olympic Games (1992 and 2004) under different banners. Nourian's career had been overshadowed by a doping controversy in 2000, resulting to a ban from the Iranian boxing team at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and his emigration to Australia, where he later obtained a dual citizenship. Nourian made his official debut at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

in Barcelona, where he ousted his opening match to Italy's Michele Piccirillo in men's light welterweight division (63.5 kg), receiving a default score 5–23. Two years later, Nourian came powerful with a bronze medal on his semi-final match 17–26 against Thailand's Arkhom Chenglai in the

category (70 kg) at the

in Hiroshima, Japan. At the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, Nourian sought his sights to compete for the Iranian team in the

light welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

division (63.5 kg). On 17 September 2000, the International Amateur Boxing Association banned him from the Games after he was tested positive for the steroid

nandrolone Nandrolone, also known as 19-nortestosterone, is an endogenous androgen. It is also an anabolic steroid (AAS) which is medically used in the form of esters such as nandrolone decanoate (brand name Deca-Durabolin) and nandrolone phenylpropionate ...

, permitting his opponent Ajose Olusegun of Nigeria to walkover with an effortless victory in the first round. As a result, Nourian left the Iranian boxing squad shortly to move to Sydney, and later became a naturalised citizen in February 2004. Pursuing his sporting career outside of Iran, Nourian trained under the boxing squad for the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. Twelve years after his Olympic debut, Nourian qualified for his newly joined Australian squad, as a 32-year-old veteran, in the men's light welterweight division (63.5 kg) at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

in Athens. Earlier in the process, he guaranteed a spot on the nation's boxing team after finishing first from the AIBA Oceania Qualification Tournament in

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

. Unlike his two previous Games, Nourian scored a convincing victory 22–51 over Seychelles' Kitson Julie in the opening round, before losing out his next match to Italy's Michele di Rocco with a decisive 25–33 count.

References

External links

ESPN Olympic ProfileAustralian Olympic Team Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nourian, Anoushiravan 1972 births Living people Iranian male boxers Light-welterweight boxers Welterweight boxers Olympic boxers for Iran Olympic boxers for Australia Boxers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 1994 Asian Games Boxers at the 1998 Asian Games Asian Games bronze medalists in boxing Iranian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in boxing Iranian emigrants to Australia Boxers from Tehran Australian male boxers Asian Games bronze medalists for Iran Asian Games boxers for Iran Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games Sportspeople from Qaem Shahr Sportspeople of Iranian descent Iranian martial artists