"Mohammadreza GERAEI (Iran), Amir ZARE (Iran) and Aline FOCKEN (Germany) have been named United World Wrestling’s Breakthrough Performance of the Year award winners," UWW wrote in its official Twitter account.
"Geraei came into 2021 without having a world or Olympic medal on his resume. The 25-year-old, known as ‘The Iceman,’ defied all expectations and claimed Olympic gold in Tokyo and closed out his improbable ’21 campaign with a world-title run in Oslo," UWW said.
"Zare, at just 20-year-old, had a colossal year. He collected an Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo before upsetting three-time world champ Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) and Olympic gold medalist Taha AKGUL (TUR) en route to gaining heavyweight supremacy at the Oslo World Championships," it added.
Iran’s Greco-Roman wrestling team first gained the world first status in 2014. It has also won a world second in 2009 and two world thirds in 2011 and 2017.
The team managed to send four wrestlers to the finale and gain four golds, too, for the first time since 1961 Japan championships.
Iranian Greco-Roman wrestling team also made history with the total number of seven medals in 2021 Oslo championships.
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