Tehran, Iran, July 23, 2024: Gymnast Mahdi Olfati and table tennis player Neda Shahsavari will be the flag bearers for Iran at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics on Friday, July 26.
Iran will be represented by 40 athletes – 29 men and 11 women - in 13 sports in Paris.
Olfati qualified through the FIG World Cup Series to represent Iran at the Paris Games. He won a silver medal in the men’s vault at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, becoming the first Iranian gymnast to win a medal at the Asian Games.
Shahsavari was the first woman to represent Iran in table tennis at the Olympics when she competed at London 2012. This will be her third Olympic Games having also participated in Rio 2016.
Iran’s biggest representation is in wrestling with 11 athletes, all male. Medal hopes for the Islamic Republic will lie on the shoulders of 2023 World champion Mirmostafa Javadi and the ever-improving Nahid Kiani in taekwondo.
