Hadi Saei ( fa, هادی ساعی, born June 10, 1976) is an Iranian councilor and former

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

athlete who became the most successful Iranian athlete in Olympic history and the most titled champion in this sport by winning 9 world class titles (three olympic titles in 2000 and 2004 and 2008, two world championships titles, four world cup titles and one world olympic qualification tournament). Earlier in his career and in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in Sydney, Saei had won the Bronze medal. He was elected as member of

City Council of Tehran The Islamic City Council of Tehran ( fa, شورای اسلامی شهر تهران) is the directly elected council that presides over the city of Tehran, elects the mayor of Tehran in a mayor–council government system, and budgets of the M ...

in 2006 local elections and was reelected in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

but lost the 2017 election. He is one of the three most medal winners olympians in the sport of Taekwondo.

Career

He has been practicing Tae Kwon Do since he was six years old. Having previously competed in Lightweight (67–72 kg), he is the 1999 World Champion and 2003 World Championship silver medalist. When the Iranian town of Bam was devastated in the 2003 earthquake, Saei put his medals on auction to raise money for the victims. He has been World Champion in the Tae Kwon Do World Championships two times. Currently, he is a senior at the Iran Physical Education University. Saei officially ended his career as a Tae Kwon Do athlete on November 8, 2008 (18 Aban 1387).

2008 Summer Olympics

In the first match against the

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

ese

Deepak Bista Deepak Bista ( ne, दीपक विष्ट, born 2 July 1976) is a male Nepalese taekwondo former player and practitioner. One of the most popular and highly popular sportsperson in Nepal, he competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics. On August 8 ...

his right hand was fractured during the fight however he did not indicate his injury throughout the entire competition despite enormous pain until he won the final against the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Mauro Sarmiento Mauro Sarmiento (born August 10, 1983) is an Italian martial artist. He was born in Casoria, Italy, and represented Italy in Taekwondo at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 80 kg, and won the silver medal, upsetting two-time Olympic champion St ...

. Immediately after winning the Gold medal his hand was in plaster cast. Previously he wanted to say farewell after winning in the final, but his coach Reza Mehmandoust has advised him not to do it. By winning his gold medal, Saei ensured that Iran was leaving Beijing with a better result than their poor showing at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, where they received only one bronze medal. Full results of Iran's medals in the history of the Summer Olympic games can be found in the 'Medal tables' in

Iran at the Olympics Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran since 1979, first participated at the Olympic Games in 1900. Iran has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since 1948, except for 1980 and 1984 due to political boycotts. Iran has ...

Titles

*1995 World Military Taekwondo Championships SILVER *1996 World Military Taekwondo Championships BRONZE *1998 World Taekwondo Cup GOLD *1999 World Taekwondo Championships GOLD *2000 World Taekwondo Cup GOLD *2000 Sydney Olympic Games BRONZE *2001 World Taekwondo Cup GOLD *2002 Asian Taekwondo Championships SILVER *2002 World Taekwondo Cup GOLD *2002 Busan Asian Games GOLD *2003 World Taekwondo Championships SILVER *2004 Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament GOLD *2004 Athens Olympic Games GOLD *2005 World Taekwondo Championship GOLD *2006 Asian Taekwondo Championships GOLD *2006 Doha Asian Games BRONZE *2007 World Taekwondo Championship BRONZE *2008 Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament GOLD *2008 Beijing Olympic Games GOLD

In popular culture

Hadi Saei starred in the TV series ''Amin'' directed by Manuchehr Hadi in 2015.

Personal life

He has suffered great personal tragedy having lost his brother and father in the same year, in addition to his younger brother who succumbed to cancer the following year. Saei is originally

Iranian Azerbaijani Iranian Azerbaijanis (; az, ایران آذربایجانلیلاری, italics=no ), also known as Iranian Azeris, Iranian Turks, Persian Turks or Persian Azerbaijanis, are Iranians of Azerbaijani ethnicity who may speak the Azerbaijani lang ...

from the

East Azerbaijan Province East Azerbaijan Province ( fa, استان آذربایجان شرقی ''Āzarbāijān-e Sharqi''; az-Arab, شرقی آذربایجان اوستانی) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is located in Iranian Azerbaijan, bordering Armeni ...

and

Bostanabad , native_name_lang = fa , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , flag_alt = , im ...

city.

References

*
Biography

External links

* * *
World Tae Kwon Do Online Magazine

Tae Kwon Do Club / Kauno Taekwondo Klubas
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saei, Hadi Iranian male taekwondo practitioners Olympic taekwondo practitioners of Iran Taekwondo practitioners at the 2000 Summer Olympics Taekwondo practitioners at the 2004 Summer Olympics Taekwondo practitioners at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Iran Olympic bronze medalists for Iran Sportspeople from Tehran 1976 births Living people Asian Games gold medalists for Iran Asian Games bronze medalists for Iran Asian Games medalists in taekwondo Olympic medalists in taekwondo Taekwondo practitioners at the 1998 Asian Games Taekwondo practitioners at the 2002 Asian Games Taekwondo practitioners at the 2006 Asian Games Iranian sportsperson-politicians Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Iranian Azerbaijanis Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Tehran Councillors 2013–2017 Tehran Councillors 2007–2013 Recipients of the Order of Courage (Iran) World Taekwondo Championships medalists Asian Taekwondo Championships medalists