Javad Foroughi (; born 11 September 1979) is an Iranian

sport shooter Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airguns, in forms such ...

, born in

Dehloran Dehloran () is a city in the Central District of Dehloran County, Ilam province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and of the district. Demographics Language and ethnicity The city is populated by Kurds and Lurs. Population At ...

. He represented Iran at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, competing in Men's 10 metre air pistol and in Mixed 10 metre air pistol team. Foroughi competed in the men's 10 metre air pistol competition in the 2020 Olympics on 24 July. He qualified to the final, finishing 5th with a score of 580. In the final he started out in the lead in the 1st competition stage, scoring 101.0, a slight distance to 2nd place

Pang Wei Pang Wei (; born 19 July 1986) is a Chinese Olympic sport shooter. He won a gold medal in the 10 metre air pistol at the 2008 Summer Olympics and a bronze medal in the same event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He also won the 2006 ISSF World S ...

with 99.7. In the 2nd competition stage, Foroughi remained in the lead throughout the entire competition, finishing 1st and winning gold ahead of silver medalist Serbian

Damir Mikec Damir Mikec ( sr-Cyrl, Дамир Микец; born 31 March 1984) is a Serbian sport shooter. Biography Mikec represented Serbia at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China. He earned his qualification by finishing 6th at ...

. Foroughi scored 244.8 and set a new

Olympic record Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games. Summer Olympics * Archery at the Summer Olympics, Archery (List of Olympic records in archery, li ...

. His medal was Iran’s first medal in

Shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

in the history of

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

. At the age of 41, Foroughi became the oldest medalist in Iranian Olympic history.

Mahmoud Namjoo Mahmoud Namjoo (, September 22, 1918 – January 21, 1989) was an Iranian bantamweight weightlifter. He competed at the 1948, 1952 and 1956 Olympics and placed fifth, second and third, respectively. At the world championships he won three gold, on ...

had won a bronze medal at the age of 38 in 1956 Melbourne. Foroughi is a nurse in the

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a multi-service primary branch of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces, Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khom ...

(IRGC) and served in Syria in 2012-13 as part of the Corps' medical deployment. Iranian human rights activists decried Foroughi's Olympic medal. For example, United for Navid, a campaign set up by Iranian-American women's rights activist

Masih Alinejad Masih Alinejad (, born Masoumeh Alinejad-Ghomikolayi (), September 11, 1976) is an Iranian Americans, Iranian-American journalist, author, and women's rights activist. Alinejad works as a presenter/producer at Voice of America Persian News Networ ...

of the VOA Persian Service after the

execution of Navid Afkari Navid Afkari Sangari (; 22 July 1993 – 12 September 2020) was an Iranian wrestler who was sentenced to death and executed in Shiraz after having been accused and convicted of murdering a security guard during the 2018 Iranian protests; source ...

, said that due to Foroughi's membership in IRGC, he "is a current and longtime member of a terrorist organization".

References

External links

* 1979 births Living people People from Ilam province Iranian male sport shooters Shooters at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic shooters for Iran Olympic gold medalists for Iran Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in shooting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel of the Syrian civil war Shooters at the 2018 Asian Games Shooters at the 2022 Asian Games 20th-century Iranian sportsmen 21st-century Iranian sportsmen {{Iran-sportshooting-bio-stub