Shirzanan: Please see photos of final match here

Shirzanan: by Maryam Majd/ please see the pictures here

On August 12th:12pm Homa Hosseini will compete on women’s single rowing second rank.

On August 13th: Najmeh Abtin, in case of wining will compete among the 64 Archers for gething to the final 32 archers, and on August 14th Homa Hosseini, will compete in semi finals for women’s single rowing for both C/D and A/B.

On August 16th Najmeh will compete in semi final if pass the previous rounds, and Homa Hosseini will have her finals. On 20th Sara Khsohjamal will compete in the first weight and the ranking for the finals in Taekwodo.

She left Tehran for Beijing to participate in the under-23 World Cup and her results were not good. So her coach advised her not to go for Austria’s Rowing competitions. Mahin Farhadizad, the deputy manager of the boating federation told Shirzanan that, “ We are thrilled by the fact that Homa was the Banner holder in the Olympic march. She is very hardworking and my only wish is for her to get a better records in Olympics.”

These are the results, although it is not yet finalized whether the Islamic Republic TV will broadcast the women’s Olympic sports events. Your votes were as follows: 46.1 percent voted “the TV coverage will make people to notice women’s sports.” 50 percent voted “It will motivate the Iranian sportswomen.” 3.9 percent voted “ it will draw the attention of the officials and governments towards women’s sports.” And 0 percent voted for “ It has no effects what so ever.”

Iran Olympic team has 53 athletes and they compete in 12 events. Iran will compete in wrestling, judo, taekwondo, archery, swimming, boxing weightlifting, rowing, tennis, basketball, cycling and track and fields. You can see the short video recording of Iran’s Olympic Caravan here:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ovEzX...

We do not expect any medals from neither of them Abtin for women’s archery and Vaezi in men’s.” Karim Safaii added, “ It is impossible to get results over one night. Although our athletes practiced hard, they are inexperienced compare to their opponents.”

Shirzanan: Sara in the weight one will compete against opponents from Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Columbia, Venezuela, US, New Zealand, Vietnam, Morocco, Cuba, Canada and Thailand. This will be a very hard group for lower weights. Sara’s Coach says, “ She is in good shape and She is confident.”

.... The Acient Olympic Games began in BCE 776, in Greece and were held until CE 393. The sports held The Games gradually lost their significance as the Romans gained power in Greece. After Emperor Theodosius I proclaimed Christianity the religion of the Empire in CE 393 and banned pagan rites, the Olympic Games were forbidden as a pagan festival. The Olympics were not seen again until their revival 1,500 years later.

During the ancient times normally only young men could participate. And no women were allowed inside the stadiums, perhaps because the sportsmen usually competed nude.

The Olympic games originally contained one event and that is Stadion race or Stade (running) later on, more events were added: boxing, wrestling and chariot racing and several other running events as well as javelin throw and discus throw.

The winner of each race would have not only the prestige of being in first place but would also be presented with a crown of olive leaves. The olive branch is a sign of hope and peace. The Modern Olympic Games were inaugurated in Athens in 1896. 295 athletes from 13 countries were participating in these games. And no women were present. But four year after that in 1900 in Paris 11 women were present among 1000 men. This is the beginning of women’s participation in Olympic games and ever since women’s presence in Olympics could not be ignored.

One can hardly forget the brilliant achievements of women in Olympic games, sportswomen such as Wilma Rudolph an African-American who despite her childhood diagnosis with polio, won three gold medals in 1960’s Olympics in athletics and Marjorie Gestring who was a competitive springboard diver from the United States who at the age of 13 won the gold medal in 3-meter springboard diving at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin; the youngest person ever to win an Olympic gold medal.

Among these women, the attendance of Iranian women in Olympic games was filed with ups and downs.

After the Islamic revolution and up to the 2008 Olympics only three Iranian women in shooting participated in Olympics via white card program which is to help the developing countries. Iran used this program in 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics. The first Iranian women who passed the qualification games for Olympics after the revolution was Sara Khsohjamal Fekri; After her qualification the sports officials in Iran started to advertise the fact as “ the first Iranian Women in Olympics”: the fact that they easily forget about Iranian women athletes who participated in Olympics before the Islamic revolution is nothing but a political tactic in rewriting a discriminatory history.

Before the Islamic Revolution in Iran Iranian women athlete were present in two Olympic games. Four Iranian sportswomen participated in 1964 Tokyo Olympics; three on Track and Field and one in Gymnastics. And again in 1976 Olympics in Montreal four Iranian women in Fencing participated. After all these women all added a pages to the history of Iranian women in Olympics and we are thrilled to see more of them.

... When we asked Mehri Ranjbar that which one is more important, the result or just being able to be there in Olympics? She said, “ both, I believe their presence and their performance. But we should evaluate our condition. Of course we are not in the same level as the expert countries. By achieving these three Olympic berths Iranian women athletes have successfully started to change the patriarchal views on women’s sports in Iran.”

Parisa Ghafari, sports journalists, has similar views about Iran’s three Olympian women, she says, “ We cannot expect a lot from Homa and Najmeh, they are very young and inexperienced. But Sara has been a longer carrier. I will be disappointed if she does not get a good result. Not a medal but a good result.’ She also thinks that merging women’s sports organization with Iran athletic federations was a very good move for women’s sports.

Ghafari who is also a basketball trainer points out the lack of good and efficient equipments for women in sports and says, “ Women’s sports facilities were old fashioned and the experts were limited to Iranian coaches. We should be thankful to the City Hall committee for the construction of new women’s sports stadiums.”

Hadis Elmi, jusrnalist in Etemad-e Meli Newspaper, says, “ Of course the women’s achievements ins ports in the recent years were admirable. But obtaining Olympic medals is much harder than getting qualified for Olympics. Although good performances are expected, we should not put pressure on Olympic medals.”