Alireza Soleimani Karbalaei ( fa, علیرضا سلیمانی کربلایی, 2 February 1956 – 21 May 2014) was an Iranian heavyweight freestyle wrestler. He was the first, and to date the only, Iranian to win the world superheavyweight title, which he achieved in 1989. He served as the

flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...

for Iran at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

, where he placed sixth. Besides freestyle wrestling, Soleimani was a champion in varzesh-e bastani and won the Pahlevan of Iran title and armband in Pahlevani traditional wrestling six times.

References

1956 births 2014 deaths Wrestlers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Iranian male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers of Iran Asian Games gold medalists for Iran Asian Games medalists in wrestling Pahlevans of Iran Wrestlers at the 1986 Asian Games World Wrestling Champions Medalists at the 1986 Asian Games Asian Wrestling Championships medalists 20th-century Iranian people 21st-century Iranian people {{Iran-wrestling-bio-stub