Abdollah Movahed ( fa, عبدالله موحد , born March 20, 1940) is a retired

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian lightweight freestyle wrestler. He competed at the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Olympics and won a gold medal in 1968. He served as flag bearer for Iran at the Opening Ceremony of the 1970 Asian Games, and won a gold medal a few days later.

Family

Movahed's father was a teacher who moved from

Ardabil Ardabil (, fa, اردبیل, Ardabīl or ''Ardebīl'') is a city in northwestern Iran, and the capital of Ardabil Province. As of the 2022 census, Ardabil's population was 588,000. The dominant majority in the city are ethnic Iranian Azerbaija ...

Babolsar Babolsar ( fa, بابلسر, also Romanized as Bābolsar and Bābul Sar; also known as Mashhadsar (Persian: مَشهَدسَر), also Romanized as Mashhad-i-Sar and Meshed-i-Sar) is a city and capital of Babolsar County, Mazandaran Province, Ira ...

during the reign of

Reza Shah Reza Shah Pahlavi ( fa, رضا شاه پهلوی; ; originally Reza Khan (); 15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) was an Iranian Officer (armed forces), military officer, politician (who served as Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics (Iran), ...

. He later changed his name from Mojtaba Fazlizadeh to Mojtaba Movahed Ardebili, and married a woman from

Bandar-e Anzali Bandar-e Anzali ( fa, بندرانزلی, also Romanized as Bandar-e Anzalī; renamed as Bandar-e Pahlavi during the Pahlavi dynasty) is a city of Gilan Province, Iran. At the 2011 census, its population was 144,664. Anzali is one of the mos ...

. They had three daughters and six sons, first being born in 1926. Mojtaba died in 1944, and the elder brothers became heads of the family and looked after young Abdollah. Around 1957, they moved the family to

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

Sports career

While living in Babolsar Movahed trained in gymnastics, volleyball and swimming. In Tehran he continued playing volleyball and took up weightlifting, but stopped due to a bout of

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal pa ...

. After recovering he changed to wrestling upon advice from his brother Mehdi. Abdollah began competing in 1959, and next year participated in the Iranian Olympic Trials. Coaches soon noted Movahed's technical prowess, and believed that with the proper conditioning, he had the potential to be a world champion. Their suspicions were confirmed: between 1965 and 1970 Movahed won every major contest that he entered. The highlight of his career was the 1968 Olympics in Mexico, where he won the gold medal. At the 1972 Games he injured his shoulder in the early rounds, and did not advance to the final. Movahed later moved to the United States, but refused to train American wrestlers because they might face Iranian opponents in international tournaments. He was inducted into the

FILA Fila Holdings Corp. is a sportswear brand of shoes and apparel. The company was founded by Ettore and Giansevero Fila in 1911 in Coggiola, near Biella, Piedmont, Italy. In 2003, it was sold to United States-based Sports Brand International. Sub ...

wrestling hall of fame. He lives in the USA city of

Fairfax, Virginia The City of Fairfax ( ), colloquially known as Fairfax City, Downtown Fairfax, Old Town Fairfax, Fairfax Courthouse, FFX, or simply Fairfax, is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Movahed, Abdollah 1940 births Living people Olympic wrestlers of Iran Wrestlers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Iranian male sport wrestlers Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Iran Place of birth missing (living people) Asian Games gold medalists for Iran Olympic medalists in wrestling Asian Games medalists in wrestling People from Babolsar Wrestlers at the 1966 Asian Games Wrestlers at the 1970 Asian Games World Wrestling Champions Medalists at the 1966 Asian Games Medalists at the 1970 Asian Games Sportspeople from Mazandaran province 20th-century Iranian people 21st-century Iranian people