Taekwondo 2020 Discussion Thread

[thepharoah 2,413]

[intoronto 6,408]

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/kimia-alizadeh-taekwondo-defects-iran-1.5424193

[heywoodu 16,004]

3 minutes ago, intoronto said:

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/kimia-alizadeh-taekwondo-defects-iran-1.5424193

 

Hello Netherlands

[MHSN 3,777]

I wanted to write about it yesterday but I wasn't just in the mood. we knew about this for few days, but she finally confirmed it with that instagram post yesterday.

 

even though she probably broke the world record in number of surgeries ! her career is probably done already (or maybe not ?!) but still she was the biggest name in the list of athletes leaving Iran. which is getting bigger and bigger. some of them are 2nd/3rd tier athletes I didn't even mention here, but Alizadeh as the best female athlete Iran ever had is the biggest name IMO.

 

obviously she is exaggerating but then I'm not in her place to judge. most of her points are valid though. I would liked her much more if she could say all those things without leaving her country. because when someone gets "brave" after leaving the country, to me it's hard to believe the real intentions. just 2-3 months ago she was on TV with her husband and she was talking about how happy she is about everything and blah blah.

[Olympian1010 8,230]

32 minutes ago, intoronto said:

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/kimia-alizadeh-taekwondo-defects-iran-1.5424193

This isn’t a good look for . There’s a good the IOC might start sanctioning them since defections are becoming rampant, and sports are having to force them to play .

[heywoodu 16,004]

2 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

This isn’t a good look for . There’s a good the IOC might start sanctioning them since defections are becoming rampant, and sports are having to force them to play .

I highly doubt it.

[Federer91 3,024]

We naturalized also an Iranian athlete - Farzad Zolghadri.  @MHSN do you know him and how strong is he? 

 

Personally, i don't like such tactics, but i can see why they did it, especially in a sport like taekwondo, where we don't have any real chance for Olympic quota. 

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-bulgaria-taekwondo/taekwondo-irans-zolghadri-moves-to-bulgaria-to-pursue-olympic-dream-idUSKBN1ZT26C

[MHSN 3,777]

15 minutes ago, Federer91 said:

We naturalized also an Iranian athlete - Farzad Zolghadri.  @MHSN do you know him and how strong is he? 

 

Personally, i don't like such tactics, but i can see why they did it, especially in a sport like taekwondo, where we don't have any real chance for Olympic quota. 

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-bulgaria-taekwondo/taekwondo-irans-zolghadri-moves-to-bulgaria-to-pursue-olympic-dream-idUSKBN1ZT26C

 

well of course I know him but I think you should not expect much from him. he was around the national team for a while because of his father, and never achieved anything.

 

but coming from the Iranian taekwondo school he won't be a weak competitor, but I highly doubt he can qualify for the Olympics from Europe.

 

btw with this rate, at 2025 half of the competitors at the World TKD Championships will be Iranian-born !

[phelps 8,284]

@MHSN

I just stumbled upon the Fujairah Open results...and I've seen this:

Men's -74kg, Gold Medallist: Abolfazl Yaghoubi...from UAE

wasn't he from Iran? when did he switch Country? did I miss it time and time ago or it's just something new?

[MHSN 3,777]

38 minutes ago, phelps said:

@MHSN

I just stumbled upon the Fujairah Open results...and I've seen this:

Men's -74kg, Gold Medallist: Abolfazl Yaghoubi...from UAE

wasn't he from Iran? when did he switch Country? did I miss it time and time ago or it's just something new?

 

wow this is new ! I didn't know that, that's big. he is a former world medalist, the most entertaining Iranian taekwondo athlete IMO, so talented , he was just physically weak that's why he didn't dominate the world in his time.

 

the last time I heard about him, he had some serious health issues (even life threatening if I'm not wrong) and that's why they didn't invite him to the national team anymore. when I googled his name, there was absolutely nothing about him during 2019.

 

checking his instagram, he is just happy to win a gold after a year of absence ! doesn't mention anything about changing nationality but we heard these stories before.

 

as I said before, with this rate soon half of the competitors in world stage will be Iranian born  most of them are not that good though but this guy (if healthy) is really good. he is Olympic gold medal material. of course it depends on his physical situation.

Edited February 3, 2020 by MHSN