Tokyo, Japan, July 25, 2021: Nurse Javad Foroughi, who spent his nights taking care of COVID-19 patients, became the oldest Iranian athlete to win an Olympic medal, earning gold in the men’s 10m air pistol event on Saturday, July 24.
The gold medal victory by the 41-year-old Foroughi, who was making his Olympic debut, was Iran’s first medal in shooting in its Olympic history. It was also the first gold medal for the country at the Tokyo Olympics.
“This is the most important gold since it is the first for shooting in my country,” said Foroughi, who contracted COVID-19 himself, recovered and feared he would catch it again while doing his job.
“I’m very happy I did my job on both sides,” Foroughi said. “As a nurse, we battled COVID and it was very hard. As a shooter, I worked a lot in the last two years for this moment.”
Unshaken in his first Games, Foroughi set an Olympic record with 244.8 points, finishing 6.9 points ahead of silver medallist Damir Mikec of Serbia. China’s Pang Wei, the 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medallist, won the bronze with 217.6 points.
At 41, Foroughi surpasses weightlifter Mahmoud Namdjou, who was 38 when he took the bronze at the 1956 Melbourne Games.