Behdad Salimi

Behdad Salimi Kordasiabi (Persian: بهداد سلیمی كردآسیابی, born 8 December 1989) is former Iranian heavyweight weightlifter. He won gold medals at the 2012 Olympics, 2010–2018 Asian Games, 2010 and 2011 World Championships and 2009–2012 Asian Championships. He served as the flag bearer for Iran at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Asian Games.^[1][4][5][6]

Behdad Salimi

Salimi at the 2018 Asian Games
Personal information
Full name	Behdad Salimi Kordasiabi
Nickname	"Iranian Hercules"
Nationality	Iranian
Born	(1989-12-08) 8 December 1989 (age 35) Ghaemshahr, Mazandaran, Iran
Education	Physical Education[1]
Alma mater	Qaemshahr University
Height	1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)[1][2][3]
Sport
Country	Iran
Sport	Weightlifting
Event	+105 kg
Club	Zob Ahan Melli Haffari[2]
Coached by	Ghasem Ghazalian Kourosh Bagheri Mohammad Hossein Barkhah[1]
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	Snatch: 216 kg (2016) Clean and jerk: 255 kg (2014, AGR) Total: 465 kg (2014, AGR)
Medal record Men's weightlifting Representing  Iran Olympic Games 2012 London +105 kg World Championships 2010 Antalya +105 kg 2011 Paris +105 kg 2014 Almaty +105 kg 2017 Anaheim +105 kg Asian Games 2010 Guangzhou +105 kg 2014 Incheon +105 kg 2018 Jakarta +105 kg Asian Championships 2009 Taldykorgan +105 kg 2011 Tongling +105 kg 2012 Pyeongtaek +105 kg

Career

Salimi with coaches at the 2018 Asian Games

At the 2010 World Weightlifting Championships Salimi won the gold medal in the +105kg category.^[7] Salimi won gold again in the +105kg category at the 2010 Asian Games with a 205kg snatch and a 235kg clean and jerk.^[8]

Salimi won the gold medal at the 2011 World Weightlifting Championships in Paris, France on 13 November 2011 and set a new snatch world record of 214kg.^[9]

Salimi became the 2012 Olympic gold medalist in the +105kg category on 7 August 2012 with a 208kg snatch and a 247kg clean and jerk for a total of 455kg.^[10][11]

Despite a torn ACL, total knee re-construction and over two years out of the game, Behdad Salimi returned to weightlifting in 2016 to compete in the Fajr Cup, held in Tehran, Iran and won gold.^[12]

At the Rio 2016 Olympics,^[13] he broke the world record snatch set moments before by Lasha Talakhadze, making 216kg, in the clean and jerk he initially completed a lift of 245kg which was approved by 2 of the three judges before being disqualified by the 5 member jury.^[14] Iran’s National Olympics Committee filed an application to the CAS.^[15] The International Weightlifting Federation website was hacked^[16] the next morning and its Instagram page flooded with over 285,000 comments.^[17]

Leaving National Team

After 2012 London Olympic games he and other Olympic medalists of Iran protested against Iran's national weightlifting team head coach Kourosh Bagheri for using offensive language in training and declined to attend national team exercises. As a result of a heavy argument on a live TV debate between Salimi and Kourosh Bagheri, the Iranian Weightlifting Federation dismissed Salimi and other weightlifters and did not invite any of the London medalists for the 2013 Asian Weightlifting Championships and 2013 World Weightlifting Championships.^[18]

Retirement

After winning his third gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games, with a total of 461kg, Salimi announced his retirement from the sport.^[19][20]

Major results

Year	Venue	Weight	Snatch (kg)				Clean & Jerk (kg)				Total	Rank
			1	2	3	Rank	1	2	3	Rank
Olympic Games
2012	London, United Kingdom	+105 kg	201	205	208	2	247	264	--	1	455
2016	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	+105 kg	206	211	216 WR	1	245	245	245	-	-	-
World Championships
2010	Antalya, Turkey	+105 kg	203	208	211		241	245	247		453
2011	Paris, France	+105 kg	201	209	214 WR		241	250	260		464
2014	Almaty, Kazakhstan	+105 kg	206	211	211		246	251	257		457
2017	Anaheim, United States	+105 kg	205	211	216		241	242	252	5	453
Asian Games
2010	Guangzhou, China	+105 kg	201	201	205	1	235	241	241	2	440
2014	Incheon, South Korea	+105 kg	200	210	215	1	241	255	--	1	465
2018	Jakarta, Indonesia	+105 kg	200	206	208	2	237	246	253	1	461
Asian Championships
2009	Taldykorgan, kazakhstan	+105 kg	180	190	197		220	231	--		421
2011	Tongling, China	+105 kg	200	205	208		241	250	--		458
2012	Pyeongtaek, South Korea	+105 kg	196	201	206		245	260	260		451
Fajr cup
2016	Tehran, Iran	+105 kg	195	201	205		225	231	231		430
World Junior Championships
2008	Cali, Colombia	+105 kg	181	186	190		220	226	226		406
2009	Bucharest, Romania	+105 kg	181	190	195		222	228	235		423
Asian Junior Championships
2008	Jeonju, South Korea	+105 kg	185				222				407

See also

• Hossein Rezazadeh

References

1. BEHDAD SALIMIKORDASIABI Archived 30 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine. asiangames2018.id
2. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Behdad Salimi". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
3. Behdad Salimi. London2012.com. Retrieved on 30 August 2018.
4. "Behdad Salimikordasiabi". IWF.net. IWF. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
5. سليمي به تيم وزنه‌برداري ذوب آهن پيوست ورزش ۳
6. Jury Panel Lets Iran’s Salimi Down in Men's 105+kg. Kayhan.ir (17 August 2016). Retrieved on 2018-08-30.
7. "Behdad Salimi Wins the Supers at the World Weightlifting Championships". IronMind. 26 September 2010. Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
8. "Asian Games Weightlifting: Behdad Salimi Wins the Supers!". IronMind. 19 November 2010. Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
9. "Behdad Salimi: 216-kg World Record Snatch". IronMind. 17 August 2016. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
10. "Iran's Behdad Salimi Won Gold Medal in Men's Weightlifting +105kg". Kabir News. Archived from the original on 10 August 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
11. London 2012 105kg superheavyweight men – Olympic Weightlifting. London2012.com. Retrieved on 30 August 2018.
12. Bend, Bar (2 June 2016). "Behdad Salimi Returns to Competition, Goes 205/225 at Fajr Cup". Bar Bend Blog. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
13. "Top weightlifters to watch in Rio". Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
14. "Weightlifting: Georgian lifts gold as Iran cry foul". Reuters. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
15. Iran files application to CAS on Salimi’s case – Mehr News Agency. En.mehrnews.com (17 August 2016). Retrieved on 2018-08-30.
16. "Weightlifting under fire from angry Iranians: 1.6 million times". Reuters. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
17. International Weightlifting Federation website hacked after Iranian’s controversial Olympic exit. AFP via Japan Times
18. All Things Gym (15 July 2013). "Weightlifting News: Iranian Weightlifters Leave / Got Kicked Off Team". Retrieved 9 December 2018.
19. "Iranian Weightlifter Behdad Salimi Announces Retirement After 2018 Asian Games - BarBend". BarBend. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
20. سایت شبکه ورزش – بهداد سلیمی در گفتگوی اختصاصی با شبکه ورزش سیما از دنیای حرفه ای خداحافظی کرد ,بهداد سلیمی Archived 27 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Varzeshtv.ir. Retrieved on 30 August 2018.

External links

• Behdad Salimikordasiabi at the International Weightlifting Federation
• Behdad Salimikordasiabi at the International Weightlifting Results Project
• Behdad Salimikordasiabi at Olympics.com
• Behdad Salimikordasiabi at Olympic.org (archived)
• Behdad Salimi at Olympedia