Kimia Alizadeh vs Nahid Kiani
In a rematch of their bout from the 2020 Summer Olympics where Kimia Alizadeh was the victor, Nahid Kiani narrowly defeated Alizadeh in the 2024 bout on 8 August 2024. [2] [3] Alizadeh eventually won bronze and Kiani won the silver medal, the latter being the first for an Iranian woman at the Olympics, surpassing Alizadeh's 2016 bronze feat. While Kiani competed for the Iranian team, Alizadeh competed for the Bulgarian team after having represented the Refugee Olympic Team at the 2020 Summer Olympics, and Iran at the 2016 Summer Olympics where she became the first Iranian female medalist at the Olympics. [4] [5] [6] Alizadeh became Bulgaria's first-ever taekwondo competitor at the Olympics, and won Bulgaria's first medal in Olympic taekwondo. [7] Prior to Alizadeh's defection, the two were friends and training partners. [3]
Aftermath
IRIB, Iran's state-run broadcaster, censored Alizadeh and the podium celebrations when the two athletes were embracing each other, after having censored the opening ceremony weeks prior as well. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] During the broadcast, IRIB reporters refused to mention Alizadeh by name and attacked her with nicknames such as "homeless". [13] [14] Alizadeh had defected from Iran years prior to Germany. [3] [15]
Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran, wrote that Alizadeh and Kiani are both winners, and called the Iranian Islamic Republic regime the loser of the match. [16] [17] Masih Alinejad lambasted IRIB's censorship and stated the Iranian regime has pitted women against each other. [10]
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