Mehdi Fathipour In an interview with IRNA regarding the performance of Iranian judokas in the games of Islamic countries, he said: We have been away from international arenas for three years and it is natural that we do not have full knowledge of the conditions. Nevertheless, I believe that the judokas tried their best and if we, like other countries, were blind in the competitions, the results would definitely be very ideal.
He said: Being able to get on the mat and find ourselves in a prestigious event was a positive thing that we will see the fruits of in the next events. It doesn’t matter what opponent we face, because we have the ability to excel and we will definitely prove this in the near future.
Regarding his performance in Konya, Fathipour said: After winning the first round, I lost against the representative of Turkey, who has a medal in the world and European championships and is the third person in the world ranking. Of course, I technically beat the same opponent in team competitions in less than 30 seconds.
Iran’s minus 81 kg national team player explained: Fortunately, with a lot of effort in the team division, we won the bronze medal, which was valuable for us. This medal increased the spirit of judo players for future success.
He said: I hope that the suspension of Iranian judo will be lifted as soon as possible so that we can participate in all events with strength. From now on, we should be ready to participate in competitions with a quota so that we can get the license to participate in the Paris Olympics.
Fathipour said: The goal of every athlete is to win a medal in the World Championships and the Olympics, and I have the same wish. My role model is “Lukas Karpelek”, a famous judoka from the Czech Republic, and I want to achieve many successes in the future.